Arranged
by Don't Bite Me
Summary: Bella is arranged to be married to a man who she won't even see until after she has vowed to stay with him forever. But what happens when she meets a handsome stranger?
1. Chapter 1

Bella Swan sat at a small table at the Starbucks in the mall of Port Angeles texting her best friend and former roommate Alice Brandon.

_When's the wedding?_

Bella rolled her eyes and texted back.

_Three weeks until I am bound for life._

Alice responded quickly.

_Remind me again why you don't just run away from home._

Bella responded to with a sigh.

_I love my parents._

She snapped the phone shut and slipped it in her pocket, taking her coffee and getting up to go get what she came to Port Angeles for.

She sipped her coffee as she wandered around the department stores looking for some appropriate clothes to meet her future husband's parents in. Her mother had insisted that she buy something new instead of that "horrible and sinful" clothing she brought back from Oxford.

Bella was fixed to be married. Fixed as in _arranged_ to be married to a man whom she would never even see the face of until after she said her vows, as was the way of the religion to which she had been raised to abide by. She had known from the time she was old enough to walk that her parents would fix her up with a good husband. She knew she would never be given a choice.

Her parents had wanted her to have the best education, make sure she was the best prospective wife out there so she would have a good husband. She had gone to the most prestigious all girl boarding schools since sixth grade. Before that she had been taught to cook, clean, play both the piano and the violin, she could dance, both ballroom and ballet. When she was eighteen she was accepted to Oxford, but her parents were hesitant when she thought of going there. Six thousand miles away from home and exposed to all kinds of new ideas. And, more importantly, boys. She had never interacted much with the opposite sex, but when she got to Oxford, her college roommate had, in her mother's eyes, corrupted her and exposed her to all kinds of sin. Bella had come back with new clothes and a new doubt for her parents' religion. But, being the people pleaser she was, she had consented to go through with the arranged marriage, even though she thought it archaic. Her parents had raised her and she felt she owed it to them.

Alice still insisted that Bella should be able to choose her husband. Of course, Alice was in a happy relationship with her boyfriend of four years, Jasper Whitlock, who had asked her to marry him about two weeks ago. Alice was ecstatic, but as Bella's mother had taught her: spouses that chose each other rarely worked out.

Alice had tried to get Bella to date during college. She took her to parties and tried to set her up with blind dates, but Bella never seemed to like any of the boys she met. Plus, as her religion taught her, she had to stay pure for whoever her future husband would be. If she didn't, her mother made it very clear that no man would want her.

Bella was concentrating on a rack of simple, quarter-sleeved dress shirts, holding her coffee to her chest when she took a step and ran into something solid.

Her head whipped around to see what she had run into and saw to her horror that it was a man.

"Oh, my God!" she exclaimed. "I am so sorry." She automatically dabbed at the stranger's coffee-drenched shirt with the napkins she had picked up from Starbucks.

"It's okay," a musical voice said, and she couldn't help looking up to see who's shirt she was cleaning.

The most beautiful man she had ever seen was standing before her. His hair was bronze and beautifully disheveled, his skin was pale white, and his eyes were the most gorgeous forest green in the world. He looked like a fallen angel, and Bella found herself staring before the musical voice brought her back to reality.

"It's a good thing I just bought another shirt," he said, indicating the bag he was holding.

"I'm so sorry, she repeated. "I'll pay for your shirt . . . I-"

"It's okay," he said again. "Like I said I just bought another one." He pulled a forest green button down shirt out of the bag, and removed the coffee-stained one. Bella turned her head away as he pulled off the shirt. She was told she should never look at a naked man unless he was her husband. Once he had replaced his shirt with a clean one, she looked back at him, trying to forget what the man looked like half-naked.

He dumped the ruined shirt into the shopping bag and smiled at her. "Well, since my shirt stole your coffee, can I buy you another?" he asked.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I-I mean, I ruined your shirt."

"No, it's my fault, I ran into you. Please, just let me buy you a cup of coffee."

"Okay."

After he had bought her another coffee and a pastry, they sat at the same little table at Starbucks where she had been texting Alice.

"So, now that I've paid you back for stealing your coffee with my shirt, would you be adverse to telling me your name?"

She smiled softly. "I'm Bella Swan, and you are?"

"I'm Edward Masen." He paused gazing at her with an expression she couldn't understand. "So, what do you do for a living, Bella Swan?" he asked.

She had to admit that she was starting to really love the sound of his voice, especially when he said her name. "I don't have a job. I'm to be married in three weeks."

"And how does being married prevent you from working?" he asked.

"According to my religion, women don't work. They stay home and cook and clean and raise children."

"And you want to perform these tasks for your husband."

She looked down at the coffee clutched in her hands. "You want the truth? No, I don't. If I could, I'd become a teacher. I'm not against marriage or anything, but I've been dependent on my parents since I was born, and now I'll be dependent on my husband, I don't want that. I want to know that I'm responsible for doing _something _other than cleaning. I want to do something that someone who's been educated as much as me should do. Anyone can cook and clean. I want to do some good in the world."

He followed every word she said as though each syllable fascinated him. "Won't your husband let you do those things?"

"Probably not. My husband has most likely been raised with the same ideals I have. He's been taught that women stay home and perform domestic tasks much like his mother probably did."

Edward looked at the woman across from him. "What if your husband let you work?"

"He wouldn't do that."

"Why are you so sure?" His gaze seemed to see right into her soul.

"I'm not. I don't even see him until after I've vowed to stay with him forever."

"What do you get to know about him?"

"His name, occupation, my parents' opinion of him, his parents' opinion of him, salary, where we'll live . . . if I'm completely opposed to something, I don't have to marry him. But more than likely, my parents will pick a rich, high-class man for me to marry. I'll be on his arm at social functions and he'll get me credit cards to spend on clothes that I'll never wear. I'll do the housework and cook his meals; he'll come home, we'll eat dinner, and I'll be whatever he wants me to be."

"That hardly seems fair," Edward said.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair."

**AN: Hope you like it. Reviews are great.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Okay, so another chapater. This one isn't as good, or as long, as the others. But hey, I got it out like two days after the first, which is a record for me. Anyway, hope you enjoy.**

"Oh my God, Alice. I have been calling you for the past hour and a half. What the hell have you been doing?" Bella screamed into the phone. She was alone now in her room in her parents' house. She would live here for the next three weeks, then, after her honeymoon, she would move into a new house with her husband, who would remain unnamed until tomorrow when she would meet his parents.

"Sorry," Alice apologized. "I was kind of in the middle of something."

Someone snickered in the background.

"Alice, were you shagging Jasper, because if you were, I swear---"

"God, Bella, just because you refuse to touch another living being until your wedding night, it doesn't mean the rest of us should be deprived."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Well, if you don't mind taking a break, I have something exciting to tell you."

"Your parents are calling off the marriage and you get to pick your own spouse?" Alice asked with mock enthusiasm and sarcasm.

"No, but now I really wish they were."

"Why?"

"I met a guy today."

Alice squealed on the other end of the line, and Bella could just imagine her bouncing up and down on the bed, clapping her hands. "Oh my God! Oh my God, Bella. Who? What's his name? What does he look like? Is he hot? I bet he was hot. Are you going to run away together; that would be so romantic. What about---"

"Ali, calm down and let me speak. His name's Edward Masen; he's got this really gorgeous bronze hair and sparkling forest green eyes. He's about six feet tall. He's got this beautiful porcelain skin, and he's really well built but not like a weightlifter or anything. He looks like an angel."

Alice squealed again. "Bellllllaaaaaa, how can you marry a man you've never even met when you've got Mr. Gorgeous hanging around?"

"And what am I?" Bella heard Jasper ask beside Alice.

"You are the love of my life and my beautiful fiancé who's going to get a phenomenal fucking when I'm done with this," Alice answered.

"Um, hello still her," Bella shouted into the phone. She heard kissing noises in the background and yelled into the phone. "Godssake, Alice, either hang up the phone, fuck him now and call me later, or listen to what I have to say!"

"Okay, okay, I'm listening," Alice said reluctantly.

Bella told her all about how she and Edward had met and what they had talked about.

"And remind me again why the hell you're going through with this marriage!" Alice exclaimed when she had finished.

"Ali, my parents will choose a good husband for me. He'll take care of me, and I'll be able to do whatever I want during the day. I'll have an easy life and my parents will be happy."

"But, Bella, this guy likes you. What if you're missing out on a great relationship?"

"How do you know he likes me?"

"Bells, you spilled coffee on his shirt and instead of getting pissed at you, be bought you another one."

"Maybe he's just a nice person."

"Or maybe he thought you were hot and wanted to talk to you."

"You know what, Alice, go bang your fiancé and leave me to wallow in my misery."

"I love you, Bella! Jasper and I are flying in a week before the wedding, okay?"

"Good, you'll get to help me with the last fitting of my dress."

"Ooo, Bella, I can't wait to see it!"

"It's gorgeous," she said proudly. "It's one of the few things my mother let me do myself."

"I'm so excited!" she said. "I'll call you tomorrow." She hung up.

Bella closed her phone and placed it on her bedside table. She threw her body back on her bed and stared up at the paneled ceiling, thinking of Edward.

Edward.

Edward and his beautiful crooked smile.

Edward and the look on his face when she was speaking . . . like every word she spoke intrigued him.

Alice was right. How could she go into this arranged marriage after that encounter with Edward. All they had done was talk over coffee, but she had never found anyone easier to talk to besides Alice. There was just something about him. Something comforting. What if she was missing out on a great relationship? If she got married to this stranger, would she regret it for the rest of her life?

No, it was just like her mother said: people who think they're in love get married and then realize that they can't live together and they divorce, making everyone's lives miserable.

Speaking of which, she heard the front door open and her mother called her downstairs. Bella reached to base of the staircase to find her mother and father waiting for her.

"Isabella!" her mother cried, holding out her arms to embrace her daughter.

Bella accepted her hug then stepped back, not saying a word, as she had been taught. In the presence of her elders, she was not to speak unless spoken to.

"Darling, we have great news." Her mother glanced at her father, giddy with happiness. "We just met with your fiancé. He is the most wonderful young man. He's a doctor, you know, and he's already chosen a beautiful house for you to live in. His parents are coming tomorrow. You did get some new clothes, didn't you?"

Bella nodded.

"A skirt and long sleeves, right?"

She nodded again.

"Wonderful, dear. Now you should go upstairs and get plenty of beauty sleep. You want to appear your best for his parents."

"Yes, mother."

**AN: So, what did you think. Review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Another mega-short chapter. I made this short because I wanted to get started on the next one which will hopefully include Edward. Hope you enjoy.**

When Bella woke up the next morning and realized that today was the day she would meet her fiancé's parents, she rolled over, buring her face in the pillow and groaning. Sitting up, she noticed a large bouquet of roses in a vase next to her bed. She counted them. There were eighteen. Was there significance in that number? It didn't matter. They were very beautiful. Who were they from? She looked at the card.

_To my beautiful fiancé. Good luck with my parents today._

_-E. Cullen_

That was sweet, she thought. Maybe the marriage wouldn't be so bad. But then she remembered the dream she'd had last night. The one where she was walking down the isle and Edward was at the end.

"Bella," she heard her mother's voice call up the stairs. "Breakfast is ready!"

She wrapped her royal blue robe around her shoulders, slipped her feet into black satin slippers, and padded her way downstairs. Her mother was waiting with a quarter of a grapefruit and toast with no butter on it. The Renee Swan was obsessed with keeping Bella thin, especially this close to the wedding date. If her fiancé saw her walking down the isle and didn't like what he saw, or if his parents informed him that she was getting fat, he could call off the wedding whenever he wanted.

Of course, even when Bella was at Oxford and feeding herself, she had never gained a pound, as was her body type.

"Eat your breakfast quickly, dear. His parents will be here in about an hour."

Bella ate her breakfast silently and then retreated upstairs to get ready for the parents. She showered and blow-dried her hair so it fell in long, gentle waves around her face. She donned the black, flowing skirt that fell just below her knees and the white, long sleeved, button-down blouse she had bought the day before. She slid her feet into black two and a half inch heel pumps that her mother insisted she wear and made her way cautiously down the stairs.

Bella entered the kitchen and put a kettle of water to heat on the stove in the likelihood that one of her fiancé's parents would want tea or coffee. Just as the kettle started to boil, the doorbell rang.

She went to answer it, opening the door to reveal the two most beautiful people she'd ever seen, besides Edward, of course. She stepped out of the way to allow them to enter.

"May I take your coats?" she asked politely.

"Yes, thank you very much," said the woman, whose caramel colored locks fell over her shoulders in effortlessly perfect waves. She shrugged out of her olive green designer raincoat, and the man took his off too, both of them handing their coats to Bella, who hung them up in the hall closet.

"Right this way," Bella said, gesturing towards the living room where her parents were waiting.

They seemed to glide into the living room and sat down together on the loveseat, across from Mr. and Mrs. Swan.

"Would you like something to drink?" Bella asked to pair.

The man looked at his wife and they seemed to be having a silent conversation through their eyes.

"Tea would be nice," the man, who was blonde and handsomer than any man his age, said.

Bella retreated to the kitchen to make the tea and get a tray of cookies. She carried the tray back out to the living room and placed it on the coffee table that all the seats were circled around. Then she sat in the armchair with her parents to the left of her in the circle and her fiancé's on the right.

Her mother started the introductions. "Bella, this is Carlisle and Esme Cullen. Carlisle is a doctor, just like his son, and Esme works from home, am I correct?" Renee looked over at Mrs. Cullen.

"Yes. I run a small interior decorating business from our house. It's just a little hobby to keep me occupied during the day when Carlisle's at work." She looked around at Bella. "Do you ever think about working in or outside of home, Bella?"

Bella glanced at her mother, who said very clearly in her eyes that she was to answer no.

"Um, no, Mrs. Cullen. I don't think I could handle a job on top of all my other duties. I admire your ability to do so."

"Thank you, dear. That's sweet," Esme Cullen said.

The woman had a certain warmth about her that reminded Bella of Edward. She also suspected that Esme knew her mother had influenced her answer.

"Do you have any hobbies, Bella?" Carlisle asked her.

Bella didn't look at her mother and answered automatically. "I enjoy painting from time to time."

When she realized she had let that slip, she glanced at her mother who was looking horrified until Esme said, "Really, what kind of things do you paint?"

Bella paused, gazing at her mother for a moment before answering honestly. "Landscapes mostly. The Olympic mountain range is very beautiful."

The Cullens continued to question her about her art, and she answered each question truthfully. They seemed to be pleased, and Renee calmed down a little.

When the tea ran out, Bella got up to make some more, and Esme offered to help, following her into the kitchen. As they waited for the water to boil, Esme leaned against the counter and fixed Bella with a knowing look.

"Bella, were you telling the truth when you said you didn't want to work?"

Bella looked up from the tea drawer, surprised. "Why would you think that?"

"Dear, I might be a housewife, but I raised two children, I know when they fib," Esme said kindly.

Bella hung her head. "I want to be a teacher. Preferably high school or college English."

"Anyone who actually has a wish and a gift to teach should do so. I believe you would be good at it."

"Thank you, Mrs. Cullen."

The pot boiled, and Bella started making a fresh pot of tea.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Okay, in my opinion, this is the best chapter so far. And it's longer for all of you who have been complaining about mega-short chapters. The wedding is coming up; we get to find out who Bella is going to marry! Enjoy.**

**BPOV**

The day after I met Carlisle and Esme Cullen seventeen roses arrived with a card that read _Good job with the parents. ---E. Cullen._

I smiled when I read this. I was starting to like this guy.

After my mom left for the gym, I got in my old, red Chevy pickup and made my way to Seattle to get some new books and art supplies.

After about three hours, thanks to my incredibly slow truck, I reached the city.

As I searched through the shelves of Barns and Noble, I noticed a tall figure at the other end of the row. His hair was bronze and disheveled, and his eyes as the perused the shelves were a dark forest green, though they were sparkling with interest as he flipped through the books, like they had been when he was talking to her.

"Edward?" The word escaped me before I could stop it.

He turned around at the sound of my voice. "Bella?" He fixed me with that same captivating gaze. He walked down the row towards me. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"This is a bookstore, Edward. I'm getting books."

"You like to read?" He seemed surprised.

"I love to."

He leaned against one of the tall shelves. "So, Bella Swan, what are your other hobbies, besides reading?"

I really loved the way he said my voice in that low, velvety voice. "I paint . . . and I write."

"Ah, an artist of both words and pictures. A true artist."

"Thanks."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "So explain this arranged marriage thing to me. You're not allowed to work, and you have to stay home. . . . What else are you prevented from doing?"

Bella rolled her eyes. "You want me to explain this to you?"

"Beginning to end," he said with a beautiful crooked grin.

"When I turned eighteen my parents sent out announcements to the parents of young men of our church seeking wives. From what I understand, the parents of the man look through the profiles of different girls and choose the ones they like. Then they give them to their son, and then he chooses his favorite. His parents would have contacted my parents, telling them that he 'approves' of me, and if they got more than one response _they _would then pick their favorite."

"It sounds like applying to colleges," he said. "So what's in this 'profile?'"

I glanced sideways at him. "My full name, obviously, and my picture. . . . Where I was educated, what I was educated in, special abilities: dance, musical interments, singing, foreign languages. . . . Basically my life in a manila folder."

"So, after everyone's gone through this choosing process, do you get a folder with all his life in it?"

A small smile lit my lips. "No. I get to meet his parents, and therefore I get to know his last name, or however much of it he wants to tell me. I get to know his occupation and I get to meet his parents. That's about it."

"So you don't get to see him until you're walking down the isle?"

"Technically I don't get to see him until the head of the church pronounces us man and wife."

"And how does that work?" he asked skeptically.

"I'm supposed to look down during the ceremony to show that I'm sorry to leave my family."

"Okay, just a question, why the hell is there a rule against you seeing his face?"

I raised my eyes to his gaze. "The religion stresses male dominance, and while ninety percent of the guys who pick their wives probably base their decisions on the looks of their choices, but the church officials try not to have these marriages depend on physical attributes."

Edward stared down at me with those penetrating green eyes. "No offense, Bella, but this all seems completely archaic."

I laughed. "That's exactly what I thought after a few weeks at Oxford."

"So you don't believe in all this?"

"Absolutely not."

"Then why are you going through with it?"

I looked down at the floor. "My parents. They take care of me. They'll find someone good."

"You place a lot of confidence in your parents."

"I owe them the knowledge that I'm taken care of."

He smiled. "You really love your parents. So much that you're willing to marry a complete stranger to make them happy."

I didn't look at him.

"Hey," he murmured, slipping his finger under my chin and lifting my face up to look at him, "when's the last time you actually did something fun?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"I am going to take you to the funest place in Washington State," he said, taking my hand.

"You mean the most fun," I said as he dragged me out of the store.

"No, I mean the funest."

"Where are you taking me?"

"It's a surprise," he said with a crooked grin.

"I hate surprises."

"You'll like this one."

"Well, wait." I stopped in the middle of the parking lot. What if you're dragging me off into the middle of the woods to kill me and bury my body?"

He looked straight into my eyes. "Do you trust me, Bella Swan?" he asked with that penetrating stare.

How could I say no when he looked at me like that? "Yes."

He led me to a silver Volvo and opened the passenger side door for me. As we drove he quizzed me on things. My favorite color, the kind of music I liked . . . I was embarrassed when he asked me my favorite gemstone and I automatically blurted out emerald when until about two days ago it had been garnet. When he asked me why I was embarrassed, I admitted the truth.

"It's the color of your eyes."

The left side of his lips lifted up in that perfect crooked grin, and he glanced at me as he drove.

I hardly noticed where we were going as we drove, but when he finally pulled into a parking lot, I saw the ominous shape of what looked like a Ferris wheel in the distance.

"An amusement park?" I asked in surprise.

"What haven't you ever been to an amusement park?"

I shook my head.

"Oh, you poor deprived child. Come on, we are going to go live through the childhood that you missed."

He bought us tickets to the very originally named _Funland_, and we entered the park.

I had never been to an amusement park before, so as I looked around at the huge rides going extremely fast, I felt intimidated, and truthfully, a little scared.

"Don't worry," Edward said, wrapping an arm around me. "I'll protect you from the big, scary roller coasters."

I felt an immediate sense of reassurance.

"So," he said as we walked through the milling crowds, "who's the lucky guy?"

"His name's Cullen. He's a doctor at Forks medical. Judging by the looks of his parents, he's probably pretty decent looking."

"Ah, the Cullens. Nice family. I was really good friends with Emmett in grade school. We used to pull all these pranks on the principal. It was hilarious."

Emmett Cullen. Was he my fiancé? I guess he would fit into the category of E. Cullen.

"What did you think of Carlisle and Esme?" Edward asked.

"They were nice. Esme especially. She said that I should become a teacher if I want to."

"She's a wise woman."

"And they both look very young for their age. Like early thirties."

"They are," Edward said. When he saw the look of confusion on my face he added, "Esme can't have children, so they adopted. They're only about ten years older than their children. A lot of people thought it was risky. They thought they couldn't handle it. But they did a wonderful job raising their children to be good people."

"So you're close to the family?" I asked.

"You could say that," he said with his trademark crooked smile. Just as I was about to ask what he meant by that, he said, "Come on, let's ride your first roller coaster." And he pulled me toward a big red one called The Vortex.

After riding The Vortex, I found that I enjoyed the rush I got from the roller coasters. It was like this amazing freedom that I had never experienced before. Once we had screamed our lungs dry on every coaster in the place, Edward asked me if I was hungry.

"Yeah, actually, I am." I hadn't realized how much until he asked.

I had, of course only had my regular grapefruit quarter and dry toast for breakfast. I hadn't had anything real to eat in months.

Edward pulled me towards a hot dog stand and ordered two, plus two large slushees, and we sat down at a picnic table nearby to eat them. I wolfed my hot dog down in about three bites and drank a good half of my slushee in two sips. "I guess you weren't kidding when you said you were hungry," he said, biting into his hot dog.

I told him about Renee trying to keep me thin for the wedding.

He took a slip of his slushee, looking thoughtful. "Ever had soft pretzels?"

I shook my head. He finished his hot dog and got up. "Stay here," he said, and he left, returning shortly with two of the largest pretzels I had ever seen. "Another part of the amusement park tradition is soft pretzels, take your pick."

I looked at the twisted bread. They both looked delicious. One had huge grains of salt on it, and the other was coated in powdered sugar.

"I can't decide," I said honestly.

"Well then, we'll split them, one half of each."

Edward split both prezels though he didn't exactly do it equally. I noticed as he placed them on he wax paper in front of me that both of my halves were slightly bigger than his.

He finished his before me and watched me eat what was left of mine like it was the most interesting thing in the world. As I licked my fingers, he asked, "In the mood for dessert?"

I nodded, and he scooped up our trash with one hand and took my hand with the other, leading me over to a stand with really huge, pink and blue fluffy looking things on paper cones.

"What are these?" I asked curiously, eyeing the giant puffballs.

"You've never had cotton candy?" he said in disbelief.

I shook my head.

"Give me the biggest one you've got," he said to the man at the stand, who handed Edward a cone with a puffball as bigger than my head. Edward handed the cotton candy to me and a ten dollar bill to the vendor, saying, "Keep the change." And he led me away.

"How do I eat this?" I asked, examining the candy.

He chuckled and pinched a bit of the fluffiness off and popped it in his mouth. "Mmm," he murmured as he swallowed it, "this is good stuff."

I leaned forward and sniffed it. It smelled incredibly sweet. "What's it made of?"

"It's basically pure spun sugar. Come on, try it out."

I looked at him doubtfully but pinched a bit off and put it in my mouth. As soon as it touched my tongue, it seemed to melt in my mouth. My eyes widened in amazement. "That's incredible," I whispered to myself, pinching a little more off and eating it to. It melted just like the one before it. "This stuff is so good," I said, taking a little more. "Do you want any?"

Edward smiled at my amazement with the cotton candy. "No, you eat it. I bought it for you."

I ate the cotton candy as we walked along the path between various booths.

"Hey," he said as I threw away the bare cardboard cone the cotton candy had been on, "I bet I could win that game." He pointed at a game with eight industrial-sized milk jugs lined up in a row and a basket of tennis balls next to them.

He walked up to the bored looking girl behind the counter and said, "One ball please," slapping a five down on the counter.

She looked partially stunned and started at him for about fifteen seconds before I cleared my throat. She seemed to come back to her senses then and said, "Just one?"

Edward nodded. "Just one."

She handed him the ball, and he squinted at the milk jug he was aiming for, tossing the tennis ball straight into the neck of the jug.

"Yes." He gave me a high five. "Pick a prize, Bella," he said, gesturing to a row of oversized stuffed animals behind the jugs.

"No, you won the game you pick the prize," I said.

"Fine then." He chose the mountain lion and after taking it from the girl, he handed it to me.

"What, you're giving it to me?" I asked.

He smiled. "Another part of the amusement park experience is bringing home obnoxiously large stuffed animals," he said.

I rolled my eyes and hugged my lion to my chest. "I'm naming him Edward."

"Excellent choice, I hear that's a good name."

I laughed.

"There's just one more thing we have to do to complete your amusement park experience," he said.

"And what would that be?"

He pointed at the giant wheel with what looked like giant hanging birdcages on it.

"The Ferris wheel?"

"Oh, so you have heard of that," he said teasingly.

"Well, it might surprise you that I've been on one too," I said proudly, looking up into his beautiful green eyes.

"Really, when?" he asked as we made our way to the ride.

"When I went to school in England, my friend Alice and I took a day trip to London and we road the London eye."

"So you've actually been on the tallest Ferris wheel in the world."

"Yep."

We took our place on the plastic seats that went all the way around the circular wall of the cage things, and the man shut and locked the door.

As we moved slowly to the top of the wheel, I gazed out of the white painted metal bars that encircled the cab to keep people from falling or jumping out. I could see the mountains beyond the boundaries of Funland. It was beautiful.

"Do you like the view?" Edward asked as he watched me gaze at the mountains.

"It's nice from up here," I murmured.

We reached the top of the wheel, and Edward tucked a stray lock of hair, that had been displaced in the wind, behind my ear. "What are you thinking?"

I didn't stop looking at the mountains in the distance.

"I was just hoping that whoever my husband is picked a house with a nice view. Something that I could paint from the back porch, or even better, a balcony."

I tore my eyes away from the mountains to look into his forest green ones. He was staring down at me with an expression I couldn't really understand.

"You are a truly amazing woman, Bella Swan," he said, stroking my cheek with his thumb. "Whoever is going to marry you is the luckiest man in the world. And if he doesn't at least give you a balcony with a view of the mountains, then he doesn't deserve you." He traced the contours of my face with his long, slender fingers.

I closed my eyes, inhaling his scent.

"Want to know a little secret?" he asked with a shadow of his crooked smile.

I nodded, staring into his captivating eyes.

"If you weren't getting married, I'd kiss you right now."

In that moment I wished more than anything that I wasn't getting married, so that Edward could kiss me, so that he could love me, so I could spend the rest of my life with him and not some random guy my parents had picked out for me.

The ride stopped at the bottom of the wheel and the ride operator opened the door for us. Edward got out first and helped me and Edward the Lion out of the cab, passing the next set of people, a couple giggling with their arms around each other.

We drove back to the bookstore in silence, and as I was about to get out, Edward said, "Wait."

I reluctantly looked up into those dark emerald eyes.

"Bella," he started, "what I said on the Ferris wheel was true. Every bit of it. And since I know you can't change your decision, I just want to say that in the three days I've known you, I've found out a lot about you, and I know that you deserve more than anyone to be happy. So if this guy ever hurts you in any way, I want you to call me, and I will come teach him a lesson, understand?" he asked, pressing a slip of paper into my hand.

I smiled slightly and nodded. "Goodnight, Edward," I whispered.

I took one last look at his perfect face and got out of the car with Edward the Lion, walking down several cars down and getting into my truck.

Edward didn't pull away until he saw I was safely in the cab, and then he passed me, the look on his face one of misery.

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: This is the second chapter I posted today, so make sure you read chapter four if you haven't already. I'm hoping to get the next one up tomorrow by noon. I know this one is really rushed, but I didn't feel like taking a lot of time to go over boring stuff. There's a little Bella-Esme bonding time for those of you who asked for it, though it seems really condensed. Anyway, hope you like it.**

**BPOV**

For the next week and a half I barely left my room except to eat and go to the bathroom. Most of the time I just sat on my bed with Edward the Lion next to me, thinking about the person who had given him to me.

Every day I tried to sketch Edward, but I couldn't ever seem to get it right. There was a small mound of crumpled paper balls piled around my trash can.

Every day more roses came. I finally figured out why the number decreased with every delivery. He was counting down the days until the wedding. My room was starting to overflow with roses.

On the day six roses arrived, Alice and Jasper flew in. When they got to my house after checking into a hotel, Alice found me in my room, lying on my bed, hugging Edward the Lion.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" she asked, coming over to the bed and sitting cross-legged at the foot.

I buried my face in Edward's mane and mumbled something about nothing being wrong.

"Honey, you know I don't believe you," she said gently, stroking my hair. "Will you please tell me what's wrong."

So I told her all about my day with Edward, especially what he had said on the Ferris wheel and his parting words.

"Oh, Bella," she cooed, lying down next to me and putting her arms around me. "I'm so sorry."

"Alice, I don't know if I can do this," I sobbed into Edward the Lion's mane. "I mean, I think I love him."

"Bella," she whispered---I expected her to tell me to call him so we could run away together. I expected her to tell me to beg my parents to call off the marriage. But she didn't---"have you ever heard the phrase: 'If you love something, let it go, if it's meant to be, it'll come back to you.'?"

I sniffed and nodded.

"Do you really believe that God would have given you all that and then taken it away from you?"

I turned to look at her. "Thank you, Alice," I whispered, wrapping my arms around her.

"Come on, Bella. Mrs. Cullen is here to help confirm some last minute catering decisions, and we get to see the cake."

She helped me out of bed and get dressed to see Esme.

We descended the stairs to see Esme sitting on the couch with a whole bunch of paper spread out in front of her.

"Hello, dears," she said. She looked around. "Bella, have you been crying?"

I shook my head automatically. "No, ma'am."

"Please, sweetheart, call me Esme, both of you."

There was a pause before Alice spoke. "So, Esme, what are we doing today?"

Esme turned back to the papers that were covering every inch of the coffee table. "We need to confirm with the caterer the food for the reception, and if you two would like to come to the pastry shop with me, then we can all see the cake."

"Oooo, Bella, your wedding cake!" Alice was practically quivering with excitement.

I smiled a little and went to sit down next to Esme. "So what are we having for food?" I asked.

"I thought we would have a buffet-style dinner rather than sitting around a table." She handed me a list of food that would be serve at the buffet.

"Looks good," I said, handing it back to her.

"Okay then," she said. "Do you girls want to go see the cake?"

"Yes," Alice said eagerly, pulling me out of my seat.

Esme laughed lightly, getting up and leading us out to her car. It was a nice car: a deep blue, 2008 Jaguar S-Type. I got into the front passenger seat and Alice got into the back.

On our drive to the bakery, Alice and Esme talked about Esme's interior design business and Alice's dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Esme told her that she could get her an interview with some famous designer whose name I couldn't pronounce. Alice seemed to be very excited.

When we reached the bakery, they all welcomed Esme as if she was a regular. She explained that the owner was an old friend of hers and she came here often.

We walked straight into the back room and I saw a thin, gray-haired man squeezing pink, icing flowers on a large, many-layered, white cake. He looked up at the sound of our entrance.

"Ah, Esme," he said with an Italian accent, holding his arms out and embracing her, kissing her on both cheeks. "How are you, my dear?"

"I'm very well, Myles, thank you. How's the cake coming along?"

"Esme, it is wonderful. It is my most beautiful creation."

He led us over to an industrial-sized refrigerator and opened the door. Inside was a seven level cake with intricate patterns of blue flowers with green stems connecting them all.

"It's beautiful," I gasped.

"It's magnificent," Alice said.

"It's amazing," Esme told Myles.

We all stared at the cake for about another minute before Esme introduced us to Myles who kissed both Alice and my hands.

Some time later, Esme drove us home and promised to set up that interview with that French designer they had been talking about earlier. I asked her if she could possibly come to my last dress fitting, and she said that she'd love to and hugged me gently, like a mother should.

My mother never hugged me once I passed the age of ten. Esme was so loving and gentle; she was the kind of mother every child should have. I believed Edward in full when he said that she and her husband raised their children to be good people. Any child she raised would have to grow up to be an angel.

I said goodbye to Alice and told her I'd call her tomorrow to and we would go shopping, something that I really didn't want to do, but since she was here, it was a given.

On the day three roses arrived, I had my last dress fitting. Alice and Esme both gushed over the dress I'd had made.

It was a halter, A-line gown with a satin skirt and a chapel train. There were intricate patterns of beads all along the bodice and leading down to the bottom. It had a lace like hem with thousands of little beads sewn everywhere.

**(AN: Okay, I really didn't know how to describe this dress so I did my best. There's a link to it on my profile so just look at it and ignore my really horrible description.)**

"Dear, you look absolutely lovely," Esme said.

"My god, Bella. I can't believe you designed this all by yourself."

I rolled my eyes at my best friend's comment. "Gee, thanks, Alice."

As I changed back into my clothes, I heard Esme and Alice whispering. When I opened the door, it immediately stopped, but Alice had a huge smile on her face.

"What are you so happy about?" I asked.

She shook her head, but continued to smile. After she had driven me home and I asked her if I would see her tomorrow, the same smile she'd had at the dress-maker's shop lit her lips.

I spend my last two days of freedom in my room, hugging Edward the Lion, and picking up all the rose petals that were falling off the multitude of roses in my room.

On the day of my wedding no roses arrived. Alice came to my house early to help me get ready for the wedding.

She washed and combed my hair, drying it with a blowdryer and twisting it into an elegant bun at the base of my neck, fastening the bun with hairpins that had small diamond-like beads at the ends, so when the light hit them, they glittered. She did my makeup as well, not letting me look at myself until she was done. When she turned me around to face the mirror, it took me a second to recognize myself sitting in the chair in front of her.

"Oh my God, Alice. You are amazing," I whisperd.

"I've been told," she said proudly. "Now be careful as we get into the car, if you damage my work I will throw rice down your dress as you come back up the isle."

I got carefully into the yellow Porsche Jasper had saved half his paycheck every month for about two and a half years to get her, and we drove towards the garden were the wedding was going to be.

My parents met us there, and my mother actually complimented Alice's work. She had never really thought much of Alice before because of her "ridiculous views of marriage."

My stomach started to churn as Alice helped me into my dress and fastened my veil to the top of my bun.

As the wedding march started, my mother and Alice left me to go sit down, but Esme hurried quickly in.

"Bella, before you go. My son asked me to give you these to wear." She held out a small jewelry box. I opened it and saw a pair of emerald studs in sterling silver settings. They were exactly the same color of Edward's eyes.

"Thank you, Esme," I said, trying hard not to cry.

She helped me put them on, and handed me my bouquet. "You look beautiful, dear," she said reassuringly, momentarily brushing my cheek with the back of her hand.

I gave her a half smile, doing my best to keep the tears from spilling out of my eyes.

She rushed to go sit down, and I linked my arm through my father's, casting my eyes downwards and starting down the isle.

**AN: Next chapter we get to see who her husband is! Like I said before, I'm going to try to post it by noon tomorrow. And don't forget to REVIEW!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: So I posted it before noon like I promised. Aren't you happy with me? Anyway, I have gotten like a million reviews telling me that they hope it's Edward at the end of the aisle. But I got one yesterday that said they didn't want it to be Edward because this story was predictable and if it was Edward it would be the whole happily ever after story_ again,_ and they didn't want that. **

**And then I thought, wow, that makes sense. Because the fact was, I had been intending to draw this out a little more and have more encounters with Edward before she even met the parents, and then I was going to actually write the shopping trip with Alice where they would perhaps run in to Edward, but I thought, well, that's been done; there are plenty of shopping trips with Alice, and I didn't want to write another one. So in my original plan, this chapter should have been like chapter twelve or something and then I would stop here with her finding out who her husband is, but now I want to extend it. I mean, they've still got to go on the honeymoon right? And then they have a life and all that. I'm thinking. . . . **

**Anyway, read this chapter and then read the author's note at the bottom.**

**BPOV**

"We are gathered here today in the presence of all these people and God as our witness to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony. . . ."

When I had reached the end of the aisle, it had taken all of my strength not to look at my fiancé, and as the head of the church went on and on about marriage, I felt the urge to yell at him to get on with it.

"Before we join these two souls, does anyone have any objections?" he asked, addressing the wedding guests.

In that moment I half expected Edward to run down the aisle, saying that he objected, sweeping into his arms, and running away with me like in the movies. But this wasn't a movie; this was real life.

No one spoke up.

"In that case, do you, Isabella Marie Swan, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

I swallowed. "I do."

"And do you, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen,"---Oh my God. My head twitched as I almost looked up---"take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," said a familiar velvety voice.

I bit my lip and tightened the grip on my bouquet to keep from hyperventilating.

_Oh God. Oh God. Oh God_.

"Now you may exchange rings." The man held out a small pillow with two rings on it. I picked up the plain silver band and took Edward's familiar pale, flawless hand and slipped the ring onto his ring finger. He did the same to me with the other ring, a white gold ring with a rather large emerald with two smaller diamonds on either side of it set in the middle.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

My head whipped up to look up at him, and my neck cracked in the process, but I didn't care. There he was, my bronze-haired angel. He was smiling down at me with his beautiful crooked smile. He gazed at me for a few seconds before dipping his head down and pressing his perfect, soft lips to mine.

Neither of us were prepared for my reaction as I threw my arms around his neck, bouquet and all, and pressed my entire body against his. He broke the kiss gently and smiled down at me again, his green eyes sparkling with laughter.

Edward leaned down and whispered in my ear, "I'll explain everything in the limo."

We turned to look at the guests. Until then I hadn't realized that they were all clapping and cheering.

Edward slipped his hand into mine, and led me down the aisle, where we were assaulted by a storm of flashes. As we passed Alice she was grinning widely, and I had a feeling that Esme had told her who Edward was.

He lead me out of the garden and to the black stretch limo. The driver opened the door for us and Edward ushered me in first.

Once the door had been shut behind us, I turned to look at Edward.

"Why didn't you tell me!" I practically screamed.

He chuckled lightly. "You and I both know that it's against church law for a man to formally meet his wife before the wedding. I couldn't come up to you and tell you that I was your fiancé, but I could technically talk to you if you didn't know I was your fiancé."

Now that I thought about it, that made perfect sense. "But why did you do it?" I asked.

He fixed me with that penetrating gaze again. "I didn't want to marry you and then have it turn out that we can't stand each other. I figured that if I met you and you didn't like me or if I didn't like you, I could call off the wedding so we wouldn't end up completely miserable."

"You lead me to believe it was Emmett though," I said.

He smiled again. "Emmett has been happily married for the last three years. Everything I told you was true, we were really good friends in grade school, of course we were adopted brothers at the same time, but I never actually lied to you."

There was silence that went on for several minutes as Edward stared at me and I felt my cheeks growing slowly redder.

"You look so beautiful when you do that," he murmured, stroking my cheek with the back of his hand like his mother had done before I walked down the aisle.

"Well, I'm glad you find my involuntary bodily functions attractive."

He smiled again, his eyes sparkling as he leaned down to press his lips against mine. He kissed me once, twice, sweet, innocent kisses. And then he deepened the contact, brushing my lips apart with his tongue. I moaned into his mouth and he swallowed the sound, circling his hand around to the back of my neck and tilting my lips up a little more.

Then the limo stopped, and I groaned as he pulled away.

"More later," he promised as the driver opened the door and he helped me out of the car. We were at the Hilton, where we would have the reception before leaving for our two week honeymoon to a place that I no one had bothered to tell me the location of.

We were greeted by all our friends and family. First my parents and his, pulling us into warm embraces. Esme smiled as she kissed my cheek, and I had a feeling she had been in on the whole thing.

Next were Alice and Jasper, who I introduced to Edward as my best friend and her fiancé. Alice squealed as she hugged me and kissed each of my cheeks like Esme had. "You knew, didn't you?" I asked her as Edward and Jasper exchanged a few words.

She shook her head innocently, and drew her hand across her mouth, making a lock and key motion.

I rolled my eyes and Jasper pulled Alice towards the buffet table as a big bear of a man with dark, curly hair and a tall and amazingly gorgeous blonde woman approached us.

"Bella, this is my brother, Emmett, and his wife, Rosalie," Edward said to me.

I shook hands with both of them, but they didn't stay long as Emmett rushed off, pulling Rosalie with him, towards the food.

We were greeted by other church members, some of whom I knew and some I didn't.

Once everyone had been fed, Carlisle cut the cake, but not before both Esme and Alice had taken about four thousand pictures of it from every angle.

Edward and I stuffed cake into each others faces, and he laughed at the bit of icing he had accidentally gotten on my nose, grinning as he licked it off.

Then came our first dance as husband and wife. I had been taught to dance like all the girls of our church, but my dancing skills, just like everything else it seemed, paled in comparison to Edward's as he whirled me around the dance floor. After the first song, we broke off to dance with our parents, me with my father, and Edward with Esme. After that I danced with a lot of different people, including Jasper, Edward's brother Emmett, and Carlisle, before I found my way back into Edward's arms, and I stayed there for the remainder of the reception.

As people started to leave, Alice approached me and pulled me away from Edward. I tried to fight her, but that darn little pixie was deceptively strong for her size.

She showed me into a changing room with a dark blue dress hanging on the wall. Once she had helped me out of my wedding dress and veil, she grinned evilly.

"Alice," I said cautiously. "What do you have up your sleeve?"

She handed me a pink Victoria's Secret bag, and I hesitated before opening it, afraid to see what was in there.

But it wasn't anything to scary, just a blue lace bra and panty set that almost exactly matched the color of the dress on the wall.

"Esme says that blue is Edward's favorite color. And it's your wedding night."

I had completely forgotten about that. In my joy that Edward was the one I married instead of some random stranger, the fact that tonight would traditionally be the night that we made love for the first time had escaped my mind.

I suddenly felt a wave of nervousness wash over me. What if I wasn't good? What did I know about that kind of stuff anyway? I mean, until this afternoon, on the alter, I had never even been kissed. How would I be able to satisfy him?

Alice, who must have read the expression on my face, said, "Bella, don't worry, it'll be fine. I see the way he looks at you. He won't push you, and he won't force you to do anything you don't want to."

I turned to look at her. "It's not him I'm worried about. I want to, but I don't know if I can, Ali."

"Honey, just kind of . . . follow your instincts, okay? He knows you've never done anything like this before. He'll understand."

I nodded, for once not feeling reassured by Alice's comforting. I put on the undergarments and slipped the dress over them. Alice took out all the crystal tipped pins from my hair so it fell in soft curls over my shoulders.

Once she had deemed me presentable, we left the dressing room to find Edward talking to Jasper in the almost empty ballroom.

When they turned to look at us, I had the funny feeling that Edward had stopped breathing. He rushed over to me and took one of my hands in his, the other reaching up to caress one of my curls.

I had never had anyone regard me in such a way, like I was some sort of treasure. He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine, creating the same tingling feeling that they had every other time today. I didn't think I would ever get tired of him kissing me.

Alice cleared her throat loudly, and Edward broke our kiss, looking startled.

"You're going to miss your flight," Alice said, and Edward nodded dazedly and took my hand leading me out of the hotel.

Our bags were in the trunk of Edward's Volvo when we got in. I had trusted Alice to pack for me, but I hadn't dared to ask her what she had put in the suitcase.

During the ride to the airport, Edward kept my hand in his, lifting it to his lips every so often to kiss it. When we got to the airport in Port Angeles, he checked our bags and I leaned around his shoulder to see where we were going.

"San Francisco?" I asked, surprised.

"Just a stop," he said.

We got on the plane in our first class seats, and Edward put his arm around me and I cuddled into his side as much as the stupid armrest thing between us would allow.

It only took an hour to get to California, and Edward pulled me down the concourse to another gate.

I was just falling asleep on his shoulder when a woman's voice sounded over the crowd.

"Flight 1073 to Maui is boarding first-class and handicapped passengers now. First class and special assistance only."

"That's us," Edward said, helping me out of the seat.

"Maui?" I asked, excited.

He nodded.

**AN: For all of you who thought I'd be cruel enough to make it Emmett: What kind of horrible person do you think I am!? Sorry, I love Emmett as much as the next person, but I was not about to write some Emmett/Bella lemons or put Edward and Rosalie together. So that option was out. The only other person I could have put at the end of the aisle would have been Jake, but I couldn't really do that now, could I? Not after she had met Carlisle and Esme.**

**I had always intended to make it Edward that she married, but like I said if you actually read the author's note at the top, this story was supposed to be a whole lot longer. And I'm planning to take it beyond this. I'm not just going to end here. But if you have any ideas of conflict that can go on from this point, please let me know. Otherwise it'll be a really boring happily ever after. I'll probably bring James and Mike and maybe even Tanya in to cause some disorder, so that will be interesting.**

**If you have any ideas please let me know!**

**And by the way, REVIEW!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: I've actually been to this hotel. It is amazing.**

**BPOV**

The sun was setting when we landed in Maui. I had slept for most of the flight, so I felt wide awake. Edward got our bags from the carousel and I followed him outside to a black, unmarked car with tinted windows. The driver opend the door for us and loaded our bags into the trunk. When we reached the hotel, Edward handed a wad of bills into the front seat and thanked the man, getting out and helping me out of the car.

It was then that I got my first glimpse of the hotel. As a man in a red uniform took our luggage out of the trunk of the car and loaded it onto a luggage cart, I looked all around the lobby trying to take it all in. It was dark outside, but there were lights everywhere in the open lobby. There was no ceiling, just a few arches which plants were wrapped around. Several ponds were sunk into the floor with more plants growing around them. There were tropical birds settling down to sleep in the trees that grew along the sides of the walkways and brightly colored fish swimming around in the lighted pools.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" said a velvety voice in my ear.

I nodded, still gazing at the entrance in wonder, not noticing the man who was approaching us.

"Mr. Cullen," he said, greeting Edward as if he were an old friend.

Edward smiled. "Max, how are you?"

"Very well, my dear boy, very well." His smile was wide. "And you?"

"I'm, wonderful, Max," Edward said, throwing an arm around my shoulder.

"And who is this lovely lady?" he asked.

Edward's smile was brilliant. "Max, this is Bella, my wife."

"Ah, now I see why you booked your room." He turned to me. "It is a pleasure to meet you, my dear." He bowed partially and kissed the back of my hand.

"Max, if you don't mind, it's really late, do you think we could get our keys so we can turn in."

"Of course, Mr. Cullen, of course. Robbie!" He shouted over his shoulder at the young man behind the counter who looked not a day over eighteen. "Please get Mr. Cullen his keys so he can turn in for the night."

Robbie hurriedly searched the computer for our reservations and apparently found them. He pulled a little envelope out from underneath the desk and handed it to Edward.

Edward thanked the boy and pulled me to the elevator. The bellhop followed us up to the top floor, and Edward unlocked to set of double doors labeled PRESIDENTIAL SUITE. Oh my God. He did not.

The bellhop left our bags in the front room, and Edward handed him a couple of bills. The man thanked him and closed the door.

The place was huge. There was a living room, a dining room, one and a half bathrooms, a library, not to mention eight balconies with big glass doors that looked out over the Pacific Ocean. It was beautiful. The view from the balcony in the bedroom was the best. I wrapped my arms around myself as I stared out over endless water. I heard Edward moving some things around behind me, and then I felt two arms encircle my waist and his soft velvety voice whispered in my ear. "You look so beautiful tonight."

I smiled as he kissed the bare skin of my shoulder and neck. He continued placing small, openmouthed kisses up and down my shoulder and the side of my throat for what seemed like an eternity before he turned me around slowly, fixing me with his penetrating stare.

"Bella, I know we've barely know each other for three weeks, but I think I love you."

A little bubble of joy burst inside me. I lifted my hand to his smooth cheek, tracing the contours of his perfect face. "Edward, I know we had our marriage arranged by our parents, but I think I love you too."

The crooked grin split his face, and he looked happier than I'd ever seen him in the time I'd known him. He leaned down and kissed me gently. As we kissed I took Alice's advice and followed my instincts. He seemed to like it as I unbuttoned his shirt, placing little kisses down his beautiful chest, that is until I reached for the button of his pants.

He stopped me then. "Hey," he whispered, putting his hands over mine, "we don't have to do this tonight. If you're not ready, we don't have to do anything."

"No, I want to do this, Edward."

"Bella," he said seriously. "Do you want to do this because _you_ want to, or do you want to do this because you think it's what _I_ want."

"I-I want it because I want to," I told him only really being half truthful. I wanted to make love to him, I really did. But I didn't know if he'd like it with my lack of experience. To prove to him that I wanted him I reached behind myself for the zipper of my dress and tugged it down letting the fabric fall from my body.

His eyes widened as he tried hard not to look at my nearly-naked body. I suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious. Why had I done that?

"You really want this for you?" he asked. I had a funny feeling he knew exactly what was going through my mind.

I nodded, practically quivering with anticipation.

"Okay, lie down," he said softly.

I lay down in middle of the king-sized bed, and he circled around to the foot with his hands on the mattress, considering me. Edward seemed to make his decision and took each of my feet, spreading my legs apart and crawling in between them. He supported his weight on his arms as he lowered his lips down to my ear.

"You have the most gorgeous body I've ever seen." He kissed the sweet spot just below my ear, moving slowly down my neck. He dipped his tongue into the hollow of my throat, tasting the skin. "Mmm, Bella, you taste so wonderful," he whispered against my collarbone. His nose traced back and forth across the indent of my collarbone, taking in my scent. "You smell amazing too."

He continued to place small kisses over every inch of my exposed skin between my neck and my bra until the fabric prevented him from going any farther. He lifted me off the mattress just enough to reach around to undo the clasp of my bra. He released my breasts from the confines of cups and stared down at them.

I felt the blush creeping up my cheeks, and Edward looked up at my face. "Don't you dare feel self-conscious, love. They're just as beautiful as the rest of you." He traced the curve of each then cupped them in his long hands, kneading the flesh gently.

I let out an involuntary moan as he played with my nipples, pinching and twisting them between his index finger and thumb.

"You like that, do you?" he said, his green eyes sparkling again.

"Edward," I gasped as he trailed a series of kisses down my stomach, dipping his tongue into my belly button. I couldn't believe I'd waited twenty-five years to do this. But then again, I'm pretty sure none of the guys Alice had pushed me toward could make me feel this good.

Edward ran his fingers lightly over the lace of my panties. "I love this color on your skin," he murmured cupping my wet heat and massaging the bundle of nerves under the fabric. I moaned at the combined friction between his fingers and the lace.

He smiled at my reaction and slipped his fingers into the waistband of my panties, tugging them down my legs and throwing them into a corner of the room. He examined my bare, dripping sex. "Beautiful," he whispered, and without warning he spread my lower lips and licked from bottom to top.

"Edward!"

He took my clit into his mouth, sucking on it gently, flicking it with his tongue.

"Oh, God, Edward. That feels so good."

I felt his lips curl into a smile, and he slipped his tongue into my wet slit.

"Oh, fuck," I groaned, my hips bucking involuntarily upward and my fingers lacing themselves in his soft bronze locks.

Edward raised his head from between my legs, looking at me in surprise. "My, my, Bella. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

I blushed and he smiled again, returning to what he had been doing. The sensations he was eliciting in my body were completely foreign to me. The things he was doing with his tongue were sending spirals of pleasure through every vein in my body.

His tongue continued to lap at my juices which were practically flowing out of my slit. My breathing came in ragged gasps as he thrust his tongue in and out. I could feel the coil inside me winding tighter and tighter, threatening to burst. "Fuck, Edward!" I yelled. My grip on his hair tightened and my hips rose off the bed as the pleasure mounted. My back arched, and I cried out as I came.

As my orgasm wound down, Edward crawled up to lay next to me, wrapping his arms around me and kissing my forehead.

"I love you," he said. "Now sleep, love."

I snuggled into his embrace and easily dropped into sleep.

**AN: Aren't you glad I kept going? REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 8

**BPOV**

When I opened my eyes in the morning, the sun was streaming through the balcony doors, rising over the Pacific Ocean. I smiled as I remembered last night and realized that my head was not resting on a pillow but instead Edward's warm, muscled chest.

I didn't move as I contemplated our position. My head was resting on his bare chest, and my left arm was flung over his stomach. He had one arm around me, cradling me against him, and the other was gently stroking my hair.

"Good morning, love. How did you sleep?" he asked sweetly.

I smiled into his chest. "Very well. And you?"

"Better than I've done in years."

I craned my neck to look up at his angelic face. He was smiling down at me with that beautiful crooked smile. We stared into each others eyes for who knows how long before a knock sounded at the door.

Edward glanced down the hall towards the main room, looking a little annoyed but not at all surprised. I rolled off of him reluctantly, and he pulled the covers back, throwing on a black t-shirt and getting up to answer the door. I watched as his gorgeous ass disappeared down the hallway. He was wearing red plaid pajama bottoms that hung incredibly low on his perfectly shaped hips.

I hadn't realized until just now that I wasn't naked, the way I had fallen asleep. Sometime during the night, Edward must have opened our luggage and dressed me in the white pajama pants and tank top that I was now wearing.

I heard the front doors close and Edward came back into the bedroom.

"Are you hungry, love?" he asked.

I sat up, and my stomach growled loudly. I hadn't realized just how hungry I was. "Yeah, I guess."

"Well, come with me; breakfast is here."

He helped me out of bed and led me down the hall into the dining room where what looked like a small buffet was laid out on the long table. There was bacon, sausages, pancakes, eggs, hash browns, muffins, and delicous-looking tropical fruit that looked amazingly fresh, probably because it was grown on the island and not imported like the tropical fruit in Washington. And that was just the food I could see. The table was completely hidden, and I was afraid it might collapse.

"I didn't know what you'd want, so I just ordered little of everything," he said with a shrug. "Take as much as you'd like."

It took all of my self control not to jump on top of him and kiss every inch of bare skin I could reach. God, I loved him so much.

**EPOV**

The look on her face when I told her she could eat as much as she wanted was priceless. I doubted she'd had a proper meal in weeks.

She loaded her plate and then went to sit on the couch to eat it because the table was completely covered with food. I watched her eat, and everything she did, every moved she made seemed to fascinate me. I felt like some creepy stalker as I watched her. She looked up, finishing her food and saw me staring at her.

"What?" she asked in her melodic voice that made me wonder if she could sing. "Do I have something on my face?"

I shook my head, continuing to look at her. "Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?"

She blushed and looked down at her hands clasped in her lap. I loved that color on her cheeks.

I put my plate on the coffee table and scooted towards her, lifting my hand to her delicate cheek, stroking the skin softly with my thumb. God, she was exquisite. What did I ever do right in my life to deserve her?

I leaned down and captured her beautiful, soft lips with mine. She seemed to enjoy it as I ran my tongue along her bottom lip, and she opened her mouth, granting me access. I slipped my tongue into her mouth, tasting her. I savored her sweetness. She was so perfect.

Seeming to gain some kind of new confidence, Bella crawled onto my lap, straddling me and wrapping her slender arms around my neck. I sighed contentedly at her soft body pressed against mine and kissed her harder. Her small hands slipped under my shirt and kneaded at the muscles of my chest. I let her whip the fabric over my head and throw it over the back of the couch. Her lips moved down my neck, sucking and nipping at the flesh. I tipped my head back, allowing her better access. It felt so good. Her lips traveled down my chest to the waistband of my pants.

I lifted up my hips and allowed her to slide my pants and boxers down my legs, not paying attention to what she was doing until she was kneeling on the floor in between my knees.

"Bella," I said.

She looked up at me.

"You know you don't have to if you don't---"

She ignored me, licking her lips and taking the tip of my penis into her mouth.

I sucked in a long breath as she slid her lips farther down my shaft until I hit the back of her throat. She reached up and stroked the part that she couldn't fit in her mouth, and slid her lips back and forth over my cock, bobbing her head up and down.

My head fell onto the back of the couch and my eyes closed, my hands weaving themselves in her silky hair.

She slid her mouth off me and gave me a long lick from the base to the head, then took me into her mouth again and sucked hard.

My hips bucked forward involuntarily. _This must be what heaven was like,_ I thought as she continued her ministrations. I felt myself getting closer to my climax, and my fingers tightened in her hair.

"Oh, God, Bella, that feels so . . ." She swirled her tongue around me and her other hand came up to massage my balls. "Fuck."

She smiled seductively up at me and took me into her mouth one more time, sucking harder than ever.

"Bella . . . I'm . . . going . . . to . . . come," I said between labored breaths. "So if---" I meant to warn her that if she didn't want me to come in her mouth, she should let go now, but I couldn't get the words out as she flicked her tongue over the most sensitive part of me, and I exploded, my seed shooting down her throat. To my surprise, she swallowed it all, continuing to suck me until I finished and then licking me clean. When she finally rested back on her heels, I looked down at her in wonder, and pulled her up onto the couch with me.

"You are so amazing, Bella," I whispered, delivering a bruising kiss to her lips. I could taste myself on them, but I didn't care. She kissed me back, then rested her head on my bare shoulder, her lips curved into a small smile. We stayed like that for a while before I broke the silence.

"What do you want to do today?" I asked, looking down at her.

She shrugged. "What can we do?"

I thought about that for a second. "Why don't we shower and get dressed, then we can explore the rest of the hotel."

She nodded, and I pulled her off the couch, collecting my clothes from the floor and following her towards the bathroom.

**AN: REVIEW!!!!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Sorry I've been so crappy at updating. Anyway, here's a new chapter. Hopefully since I don't have to go to school on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I'll be able to write more.**

**EPOV**

We took separate showers. Even though we'd seen each other naked before, I didn't want to make her uncomfortable. She might have just blown me, but I had a feeling that was a stretch of her courage. She was so adorable the way she reacted every time we had any kind of physical contact.

I took my shower second and when I finished dressing, she walked out of the walk-in closet in a white sundress that fell just below her knees and white sandals with a very small heel. I had a feeling she didn't like high-heeled shoes. The white eyelet of her dress made her ivory skin seem darker than it was. She was so beautiful. Half of her hair was pulled back by two clips and secured at the back of her head, but the rest was wavy and silky, falling over her shoulders like a waterfall. She had no makeup on, or if she did, I couldn't tell. She was amazing.

I lifted my hand to her face and stroked her cheek with my thumb. She was perfect. How could she be so perfect?

"Are you ready to go, love?" I asked.

She nodded, her cheeks becoming flushed, probably because I was staring at her.

I just had to bend down and kiss each of her cheeks once before pressing my lips softly to hers. I loved her so much. I didn't care that we'd only known each other for barely more than three weeks; I loved her. I slipped my hand into hers and lead her out of the room.

We took the elevator down to the lobby. Now that it was daytime, sunlight streamed through the spaces between the plants, and brightly colored birds fluttered between the trees growing in the open lobby. It was just as amazing as I had remembered it from the days when Esme and Carlisle would bring Emmett and me here on vacations.

I showed Bella around the place. We walked around the golf course and the pool. Then we strolled down the beach. She held her sandals in one hand and my hand in the other. I loved just listening to her speak. We talked about movies and books she had liked and those that she didn't. I found that we had a lot of similar interests.

**BPOV**

I felt a warm feeling in my stomach as Edward and I walked down the beach. I wondered if I was boring him. I don't think I'd ever talked this much to one person, but the whole time he just listened, looking interested in every word that came out of my mouth.

As we reached the hotel again, I collapsed in one of the chairs in the lobby, we had walked so far today, I thought my legs might have collapsed if we went any farther.

"Are you okay?" he asked as I leaned up against the back of the chair.

"I'm fine," I said, breathing deeply. "Go on up to the room, I'll catch up with you in a minute. Just let me rest my legs." I closed my eyes, and suddenly the chair disappeared from beneath me. My eyes flew open, and I saw Edward had picked me up and was carrying me through the lobby to the elevator.

"I guess I shouldn't have made you walk so far," he said with a little frown.

"It's not your fault. I should have realized how tired I was."

He shifted me in his arms a little so he could push the button of the elevator. "Well, when we get up to the room, you can take a nice nap."

"Edward, put me down, people are staring," I said, looking over his shoulder at the people watching us.

"So?"

"I can walk."

"Well, maybe I just like carrying you," he murmured, kissing the underside of my jaw.

Stubborn.

We reached the top floor of the hotel and Edward unlocked the door to the room and nudged it open with his foot, entering and kicking it closed behind us.

He didn't put me down until we got into the bedroom. The room had been cleaned and the bed made. I took off my dress, too exhausted to care if I was just wearing a bra and panties. I turned down the covers and climbed underneath them. Edward stood there, looking uncertain of what to do.

I reached out a hand to him and smiled. "Come here."

He shed his shirt and pants and climbed into bed beside me. I curled up against his chest and fell asleep quickly.

**EPOV**

Bella looked so serene as she slept. I didn't want to fall asleep and miss watching her, but we had walked so far today, and I was just as tired as her. I fell asleep with her in my arms, and when I woke up she was watching me.

"You look so peaceful when you sleep," she whispered.

The corner of mouth lifted in a smile. "I could say the same about you."

She leaned over and kissed me sweetly. God, she had the most beautiful lips. They were soft and full, and I could probably just lie here all night and kiss them. She surprised me as she deepened the kiss, snaking one of her legs over my hip and pushing me onto my back, straddling my hips. She kissed me even more fiercely, dipping her tongue into my mouth. I wove the fingers of one hand into her hair and rested the other on the small of her back. She had the most incredible body. The curve in her spine, the swell of her breasts, that whole area where her back met her legs . . . they were all so perfect. My hand traveled down to her backside, and I sqeezed lightly as her lips made their way over my jaw and down my neck. She kissed down my chest as well, seeming to enjoy taking her time torturing me.

"Bella," I moaned as her tongue circled my nipple.

She responded by nipping gently at the bud, laving it with her tongue.

I groaned.

She kissed down even farther and began to suck on the place right above my hipbone. When she was done, there was a quarter-sized mark just above my boxers.

"Now I've marked you as mine," she said proudly.

I chuckled lightly, and she crawled back up my body to kiss my lips.

"I love you, Edward."

"I loveyou too, Bella." I stroked my hand down her hip and pushed her gently onto her back. My fingers walked themselves over her left hip towards her center, and I ran them over the soft skin just above her panties. I dipped my fingers beneath the fabric and rubbed little circles against her clit.

She gasped and arched against my hand. "Oh, Edward."

I worked my fingers down a little farther until I reached her soaking wet opening.

"You're wet for me, love," I whispered in her ear.

"Yes," she gasped, blushing again.

I slowly slid a finger into her, working it in and out, curling it inside her. She moaned my name again. I think that would be my new favorite sound. She continued to move her hips in sync with my hand as I added another finger and rubbed that little bundle of nerves with my thumb.

I leaned down and kissed her neck as my fingers worked to bring her to her orgasm.

"Edward, Edward, Edward," she panted.

"Come for me, love," I muttered against the sweet skin of her neck. "Come for me now."

Bella came, the orgasm causing her whole body to shudder as she cried out my name. I had never done this kind of thing with anyone else before, and I was glad I was able to pleasure her.

I pulled my fingers out of her and brought them to my mouth, licking off her sweet juices. She tasted so unique. It was heaven.

She moaned as she watched me lick her fluids off my fingers. I grinned and crawled down her body and pulled off her panties, lowering my head to her glistening sex and licking her clean. She grew immediately wet again, and I continued to lick and suck at her until she arched back and screamed my name again.

**AN: REVIEW!!!!**

**I saw the Twilight movie yesterday. It was better than I was expecting it to be, but still not nearly as good as the book. And no offense to the Robert Pattinson fans out there, but he seemed like some creepy stalker in some parts of it. Anyway, it's still definitely worth seeing.**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Okay, I'm really sorry I haven't updated in like a month, or two, or however long it's been. But I've had a lot of stuff going on and now it's break so I can concentrate a little more on writing. So I was going to post this chapter yesterday, but the internet went out so I'm getting it up now, and it was going to be longer, but I'm really tired now so I'm posting this much and you'll get the rest soon. Hopefully tomorrow, though I've really got to put another chapter up on my other story. So, I hope you like it.**

**EPOV**

We fell asleep again and woke up around six o'clock. I could feel my stomach growling. We had skipped lunch because of the huge buffet that we had eaten for breakfast, but now I was hungry.

I looked down at Bella, wondering if I should call room service again, or if maybe she wanted to go to one of the hotel's restaurants. Just as I was contemplating this, she started to stir, and her eyes fluttered open. She smiled when she saw me. She was so beautiful when she did that. I grinned down at her, stroking her cheek with my index finger and kissing her temple.

"Are you hungry?" I asked softly.

She thought for a second, then nodded.

"Do you want room service again, or do you want to go downstairs?"

"Uh, whatever you want," she said.

"Bella, I'm fine with either."

She bit her lower lip slowly, and I had an almost irresistible urge to take it between my own and suck it gently. But I refrained from doing so, and she answered.

"Let's go downstairs. There was a kind of grill that looked over the pool that I wanted to try."

We freshened up and got dressed, heading downstairs to the grill that looked over the vast pool and the ocean. We took seats outside on the terrace so we could watch the waves crash into the shore. It was a nice surprise when Bella ordered a cheeseburger and fries with her coke instead of a small salad with no dressing. I was glad she had an appetite. She seemed to have a high metabolism, so I wasn't worried about her getting a whole lot bigger, not that I would really care if she did, she would always be beautiful to me, but I had the feeling that since she had come back from college, her mother had fed her on a no sugar, no carbs diet. I was glad that she felt okay eating around me, as I knew so many girls didn't like to show that they ate a lot, especially to their boyfriends/husbands. And I wouldn't mind at all if she gained just a few more pounds, she was very, very thin, and I was afraid I might accidently snap her in half.

The food was excellent, and I kept her talking all through dinner. I wanted to know everything about her. Halfway through our meal Max came over and greeted us, asking us if we were enjoying our stay. We told him we were, and he told us to let him know if there was anything he could do for us.

After he left, Bella looked at me and asked, "Do you come here often?"

I smiled sheepishly. "My parents used to take us every summer from the time I was twelve to the time I graduated high school. We'd be here for about a week, and me and Emmett would spend most of the time at the pool, on the beach, or in the game room while my parents enjoyed being alone."

"Wow," she said, "so you must know this place pretty well."

I nodded.

**BPOV**

Jesus Christ, just how rich were his parents? I quickly did the math in my head, That made at least six if not seven summers here. No wonder he knew Max so well.

"So you and Emmett were adopted?" I asked, trying to change the subject from his wealth.

Edward nodded. "Yeah. My parents died when I was about eleven years old. There was a big epidemic in Chicago and my parents were some of the first hit by it. Carlisle came to the city to help treat it and found me alone in the hospital lobby. He knew both of my parents had already died, and he made arrangements for himself and Esme to adopt me and bring me back to Forks. They adopted Emmett not long after, his mom died when he was very young, and his dad was taken to the hospital after a bear attack, he died the next day. Carlisle and Esme took him in, like they did me."

"That's so nice."

He nodded again. "They're definitely the best parents a kid could have. They made sure Emmett and I had every opportunity possible growing up. Carlisle's the one who inspired me to become a doctor. I wanted to help people like he did. He's probably the best doctor I know."

"So do you work at Forks Medical like your dad?"

"Yep."

We had finished our dinner and I told him I wasn't in the mood for dessert, so Edward paid the check and we made our way slowly back up to our suite.

"Thank you for gracing me with your presence, love," he murmured, kissing me softly on the lips as the elevator doors opened. We traveled up to the top floor, sharing brief kisses and touches.

When we actually got to our suite, he pressed me up against the wall, his hands braced on either side of my face, kissing me roughly. He had never kissed me like this before; I liked it. My hands went to his chest trying to feel the beautiful muscles I knew were there through the fabric of his shirt. It wasn't enough, so I started to unbutton his shirt as fast as I could. He helped me and I pushed the fabric off his shoulders and ran my hands back up his arms, feeling his wonderfully defined biceps.

His hands went to my waist and he kissed his way down my neck, sucking gently at the part where my neck met my shoulder. I tipped my head back, my eyes closing and an involuntary moan escaping my lips. "Uhh, Edward. That feels . . ."

He nipped at my neck and then licked it to soothe the skin. "I love you, Bella," he whispered, catching my earlobe between his teeth.

"I love you too, Edward," I gasped as he reached around the back of my dress, unzipping it and pushing it down my body. He unclasped my bra as well and cupped one of my breasts, dipping his head down to capture my nipple between his lips. I went rigid. I'd never felt anything like this before. I clutched the back of his head, drawing him closer. My breathing heightened as he sucked and laved at my breasts.

"Edward," I moaned loudly. "Oh, God, Edward."

He switched breasts and I felt my knees give way. Edward's arm looped around my waist to hold me up as he finished devouring my breasts. He finally released my nipple and gazed lovingly into my eyes. "I've wanted to do that for a while now."

I didn't have a response for that. I could barely comprehend what he had said. The sensations were still ricocheting through my body, and my mind was residing in a hopeless pit of mush. I reached up and cupped his face, kissing him as hard as I could, circling my arms around his neck and pressing my body as close to his as possible.

He put his hands at the small of my back and pulled me against him. He reached for one of my legs and wrapped it around his waist. My other leg came up there too, and he held me up for a moment before pushing me against the wall again, trailing kisses down my neck.

"Too many clothes," I gasped, reaching between us to unbuckle his belt. He helped me undo his pants and kicked them off, moving away from the wall and carrying me with him into the bedroom, the whole time nuzzling my neck and the tops of my uncovered breasts.

We collapsed on the bed, me underneath him, and I ground my hips against the erection straining against his boxers. He seemed to freeze, breaking the kiss and staring down at me. "Are you ready for this, love?" he asked, gazing into my eyes as if the answer might be there.

I thought for about half a second, then nodded.

"Are you sure? We have the rest of our lives for this, Bella. If you don't---"

I cut him off with a kiss. "I want to do this, Edward," I told him when I broke away. "I'm ready."

He gazed at me for another few seconds, then nodded as well. "You have to promise to tell me if I'm hurting you," he said, reaching for the nightstand drawer and pulling out a condom.

I nodded again, and he slowly removed my panties and his boxers, sheathing himself with the latex and positioning himself above me.

"I love you," he whispered, giving me a soft kiss before slipping into me. I cried out as he broke my barrier, but I was glad he'd done it quickly rather than edging in, and he stopped for a moment to give me time to adjust to his size. Once I gave him the okay, he pulled out of me and pushed back in again.

It hurt, I couldn't pretend that it didn't, but it also felt good. It felt right. And I felt the pain slowly ebbing away, being replaced by pleasure as he continued at a slow pace. Soon it wasn't enough.

"Faster," I gasped when all traces of pain were gone and the slow pace was driving me insane.

He gladly sped up and I gasped as he hit just the right spot inside me.

**EPOV**

I was wrong this morning when I thought her mouth around me was what heaven must be like. I was so wrong. _This_ was heaven. Thrusting in and out of her hot, wet, incredibly tight pussy was the most amazing thing I had ever done. I never wanted to stop.

After she got over the initial first pain of her virginity being broken, I could feel the pleasure building in her as it was building in me, only increased by her begging me to go faster and harder.

When she moaned my name louder than ever as I hit her g-spot, I had to restrain myself from coming, reminding myself that this was about her. I wanted her to come first.

"God, Edward, that feels so good. Fuck." She clutched at my biceps and scratched her nails down my back. I loved watching her lose control like this. "Edward, I'm going to---" Her sentence was finished by her screaming my name louder than she ever had before as her walls tightened around me, milking my cock, willing me to come with her. And I did.

I continued to move in and out of her, riding out our orgasm until my arms could no longer support my weight, and I collapsed slightly to her left in an attempt not to crush her.

"Bella," I grunted into the pillow.

There was no response from beside me.

I turned my head to see her eyes closed and her beautiful chest heaving up and down.

"Bella," I said again, stroking her hair back from her sweat covered face and kissing her temple.

She turned her head in my direction, still not opening her eyes.

"Bella. Look at me, love," I commanded, and she opened her eyes slowly. "Was that okay?" I asked, suddenly nervous.

"Edward," she sighed, placing a hand on my cheek and clumsily stroking the skin, "that was perfect."

My smile probably resembled that of a crazy person, but I didn't care. Just as long as she had liked it. Just as long as I had pleased her.

"I love you," she whispered, kissing my forehead.

"I love you too," I whispered, kissing the palm of the hand still caressing my cheek. I slipped off the condom and tossed it into the wastebasket next to the bed, pulling Bella into my arms, resting her head on my chest and stroking her hair as we both drifted off to sleep.

**AN: REVIEWS are really nice.**


	11. Chapter 11

**BPOV**

My dreams were full of Edward, repeating the night over and over again. When I woke up though, none of the euphoria I had dreamed of was surrounding me. Instead there was a terrible soreness between my legs.

I looked over at Edward, who was watching me wake up, propped up on one arm, his hand resting on my waist.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his thumb rubbing soothing circles into my hip.

"Fine," I said, not wanting to show exactly how much the space between my legs hurt.

"Liar," he said.

"No really, Edward, I feel fine."

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Bella, I did not study the inner workings of the human body for seven years and go through many awkward conversations about sex with Emmett to not take away the fact that girls get sore after their first and sometimes second and third times."

I looked away guiltily.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I should have been gentler," he said, putting his hand on my cheek.

I stared at him seriously. "If you'd been any gentler I would have exploded," I said honestly.

He smiled. "Well then. I'm just going to have to take good care of you now. So lie here while I run a bath, okay." He got up and disappeared into the bathroom. I heard running water and the sounds of a couple of bottles clinking together.

I tried to sit up. No, bad idea. The pain shot through my legs and I lay back down, feeling useless.

A couple of minutes later, Edward reappeared in the bathroom doorway, smiling his beautiful crooked smile. I noticed, with satisfaction, that the hickey I had given him a yesterday was still there on his hip. He came over to the bed and pulled the covers back, looping one arm under my knees and the other around the middle of my back, picking me up bridal style and carrying me across the room into the large bathroom.

"Edward, I can walk," I protested untruthfully.

"Doubt it," he muttered, placing me in the Jacuzzi which was now full of water and bubbles. As the hot water consumed my body, I sighed, contented. He kneeled down next to the tub and I saw that he wasn't intending to join me.

I scooted to the opposite edge of the tub and crooked a finger towards him, trying my best to look sexy and inviting. "Come over and join me," I said seductively.

"Bella, if I join you, we'll end up making you even sorer."

"It might be worth it."

"Love, I was intending to take care of you and make you feel better."

"It would make me feel better if you were in here with me."

He rolled his eyes slightly and mocked a heavy sigh. "If you insist." Edward slipped into the water with me and pulled me between his legs so my back rested against his chest. He brushed my hair to one side and placed several sweet kisses on my neck and shoulder.

A humming noise started involuntarily in my throat. "Edward," I moaned as his hands caressed the insides of my thighs gently, massaging the skin softly, trying to ease out the soreness.

One of my hands went to his leg and the other wove itself into his beautiful bronze hair as I ground my backside against his hard on.

"Bella," he groaned. "I swear, if you don't stop, I'm going to take you right here."

I grimaced because I really didn't think I was up for another round, despite the burning between my legs, but an idea popped into my head.

"Fine then," I said, ceasing to rub against him. Unfortunately his hands stopped their rubbing as well, and I groaned loudly at the loss.

One of Edward's hands went instead to the place under my knees and the other to the back of my head, and he turned me around, dipping me backwards and wetting my hair. He pulled me back up into my former position and reached for a bottle of shampoo, squeezing it into his hand and rubbing them together. Then, to my surprise, he began to massage the stuff into my scalp, gently washing and rinsing my hair.

He proceeded to wash the rest of my body, which was what some people might classify as torture since, though I was becoming less sore, the space between my legs still hurt, and all I really wanted to do was turn around and impale myself on him. He took a little longer on my breasts and my vulva. Once I was completely clean, I turned around and kissed him, grinding gently against him.

"Unh, Bella. Please . . . can't take it."

I smiled seductively and reached down between us to stroke his long, hard shaft. His head fell back as another moan escaped his lips and his hands went to my hips, his fingers digging into the flesh. "God, Bella, that's . . ."

I continued to stroke him, swirling my fingers around his head and brushing myself against him every so often until he shuddered violently and I felt a stream of fluid release from him into the water. I stood up immediately, and pulled the drain, coaxing him to stand up with me.

"Okay, so that wasn't part of my plan, but that was amazing, love," he said, kissing me fiercely.

Edward dried my body off with one of the hotel's fluffy towels and I did the same with him.

After the hot water and his ministrations, the soreness between my legs was almost entirely gone, and I was really freaking horny. He smiled at my state, and slipped a finger into me, pumping it in and out and simultaneously rubbing circles into my clit with his thumb until I came as well, screaming his name as I released onto his hand.

We got dressed and went down for breakfast, where Edward promised me a relaxing day at the hotel spa. I loved the fact that he insisted on being gentle with me, even though I told him I didn't need it, and I vaguely wondered if it was possible for me to fall even deeper in love with him.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Another chapter. Still kind of sucky. I need to get some conflict in this story, all they're doing is fucking, but I can't think of too much that would go wrong on their honeymoon. Any ideas? Feel free to review or PM me any ideas you have for this story. Enjoy!**

**EPOV**

Bella's newfound confidence was wonderful, but I swear she was going to be the death of me. For the hundredth time since the beginning of our honeymoon I was more than thankful I had picked her as my wife rather than one of the fake blondes. Our religion might be the most twisted thing in the world, but it brought me to her so I would gladly go to church every Sunday. On the other hand, probably not. There was no way I would ever be able to wake up early and actually get out of bed to go somewhere I didn't get paid to be at when I could be spending time alone with the perfection that was sitting across the table from me right now.

As I watched her spear pieces of fresh, tropical fruit on her fork and place them in her mouth, I did my best not to remember what else her mouth could do. I really had to keep my mind off of that for the time being. I had promised her a day at the spa, and as much as I wanted to take her back up to our room and ravage her now that she was feeling better, I also wanted her to have this experience.

After breakfast we walked hand-in-hand to the spa. The front room was beautiful with a glass wall that looked over one of the tropical gardens. The receptionist lead us into a tiled room that contained two beds draped in sheets of Egyptian cotton. There was a large window in here too, though it was made of frosted glass so the light shone through but no one was uncomfortable. The woman told us to strip, lie on our stomachs, and cover only our butts with the sheets. She left, closing the door behind her, and Bella looked nervously at me.

"This is your first massage, isn't it?" I asked, looking down into the gorgeous brown pools that were her eyes.

She nodded.

"Relax," I told her, "or the massage won't feel good."

This only seemed to make her tense more.

"Here," I said, reaching for her side where the zipper of her dress was located, pulling it slowly down and letting my fingers brush against the soft skin of her torso as I did so. I pushed the straps off her shoulders and kissed the skin where they had been. I let the dress drop from her body and pool on the tiled floor. She let out a short breath, and I saw her visibly relax, as was my intention. The dress allowed no bra, and I suppressed the urge to suck on her beautiful pink nipples that had hardened when the cold air hit them. I hooked my thumbs in the waistband of her lacy white boy shorts and pulled them down her legs, running my fingers down the smooth skin. She stepped out of the clothes and her shoes, standing in all her naked glory before me. _No, Edward, _I told myself. _Not here. Later you can have her all to yourself. Now you need to get ready for your massage._

Now that she was relaxed I helped her onto the soft massage table. I covered her buttocks like the receptionist had told us to do and picked up her clothes, folding them neatly and putting them into one of the small cubbies. I quickly shed my clothes and took my place on the other table, covering myself as well just as a knock sounded on the door.

A man and a woman entered the room and introduced themselves as Lars and Nina. I saw Bella tense again, and she began to chew at her bottom lip. I hoped the woman was hers, but those hopes crashed and burned when the big blonde guy moved towards the head of Bella's table.

"No," I barked. There was no way I was letting his hands anywhere near my wife.

Bella jumped slightly.

"You're over here. Nina's over there" I said to him.

I saw the relief pass over Bella's face. She reached for my hand, which I gladly took, holding her gaze as Lars' hands began to dig deep into the muscles of my back.

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If I got any harder, I swear my erection would jack my hips off the massage table. No doubt Lars of the meat grinder hands knew it. Why else would he have tried to turn my muscles into hamburger patty for the last fifty minutes? He was probably pissed he missed the chance to feel up Bella.

I could tell that Bella had benefited from the massage. Her eyes were closed and her breathing steady. Once the masseuses had left, I sat up and rolled my shoulders, checking for permanent damage.

She sat up as well, the sheet falling from her body, revealing to me her snowy white body. _So beautiful._ I couldn't help myself any longer. She was perfect. Just one little taste. . . .

I darted across the room and laid her back on the table, taking one of her breasts in my hand and sucking the puckered pink center. She clutched my head, pressing my harder against her chest.

"Edward," she gasped. "We can't. Not here."

I released her reluctantly. She was right. _Damn it._

"Come on," she said, sitting up and pulling me towards the cubby. "We'll go upstairs and shower off the oil together."

God, I loved her.

We dressed quickly, and Bella took my hand leading me out of the spa and through the hotel. As soon as we reached our room, I put the _Do Not Disturb_ sign up, and our clothes came right off again on our way to the shower.

We lathered up each other's bodies and washed and rinsed the oil off. Then, to my complete surprise she sank down to her knees in front of me and licked my cock from base to tip. I fell against the wall of the shower for support as her little pink tongue swirled around the head of my penis.

"Bella," I groaned.

She bobbed her head up and down, finding a steady rhythm. I looked down at her and saw her hips moving against her hand. Oh God, she was getting off on this too. I'd never seen anything so hot, but if I watched her any longer, I would come. And I didn't want to come in her mouth.

"My job," I gasped, pulling her to her feet and working my fingers against her beautifully bare center.

"Edward," she moaned loudly.

I had to be inside her. "Are you feeling good enough to go again?" I asked. I didn't want to hurt her any more than I had last night.

"I'm always ready to go again," she whispered.

"Damn it," I cursed.

"What's wrong?"

"No condom."

She smiled. "My mom put me on the pill about a year ago to regulate my period."

I loved my life.

I wasted no time slipping my hands under her perfect little ass and lifting her up, pressing her against the wall of the shower. She wrapped her legs around my waist and I thrust upward into her.

**BPOV**

Edward had gotten me so aroused just by undressing me before our massage that I was afraid I'd leave a wet spot on the sheets below me. The massage had not helped any, and I'd been hornier than I'd ever felt in my life. These feelings were all new to me, but I liked them.

This time as Edward thrust into me, it was rougher, more animalistic. The water made our bodies slick as he began to move inside me. The angle was different than the one from last night and he hit new spots inside me, also rubbing against my clit as he did so.

My eyes rolled back into my head at the sensations, and it didn't take long before I felt my walls clench around him. He grunted loudly, his head buried in my shoulder as his hot seed spilled inside me.

When the feeling finally returned to my legs, I slid back down him and my feet touched the floor. His breath was shuddering, and his eyes hooded as he looked down at me. Without a word, he bent down and kissed me hard.

"I don't think I'll ever stop loving you," he told me.

"I'm counting on that," I said, smiling.

**AN: REVIEW!**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Here's another chapter. I really like this one, and I hope you do too. Remember to REVIEW!**

**EPOV**

I woke up in the best place any man could ever wake up in, but I would kill any man if he ever ventured near it: with my face nestled between Bella's perfect breasts. She was still asleep, but her beautiful chest was warm and soft, and I couldn't resist kissing the small pink nipples.

She groaned, and I smiled, continuing my ministrations. She arched against me, and I kissed a trail along the underside of her breasts. _So soft._ I loved her creamy, silken skin, especially the way it curved over her generous breasts. I nuzzled, kissed, nipped, and sucked until she was squirming underneath me, begging for more.

"Please, Edward," she pleaded, pushing her chest against my mouth, her hands winding in my hair.

"Please what?" I murmured softly against her breast.

"Unh, you know what."

"Mmm, but I want to hear you say it," I whispered.

"Please fuck me," she gasped.

I paused and looked down at her again. Rarely did I hear my Bella use that kind of language. It was hot. I liked it when she cursed as she lost control. In this case it made my morning wood even harder. "As you wish."

I made love to her for the third time since we were married, and I relished in the feeling of being inside her, of running her hands over her soft curves, of kissing down the column of her neck, of watching her scream my name as she came.

I was a damn lucky bastard.

We lay sweaty and panting some time later, her face nestled in the crook of my neck and her right arm and leg thrown over my chest and thighs.

"You want to get some breakfast?" I asked, kissing her forehead sweetly.

She made a kind of contented humming noise in response. "I want to stay in this bed with you forever," she muttered against my neck.

I chuckled lightly and tightened my grip around her. "How 'bout I order something from room service?"

"Sounds good."

I reached for the phone and dialed room service as I felt Bella laying a trail of kisses down my neck, over my shoulder, and across the arm not holding the phone. As I ordered breakfast, she kissed over my hip and further towards my hardening cock. I tried my best not to groan over the phone as her lips wrapped around me.

"Bella," I said warningly, holding my hand over the mouth of the phone.

She just looked up at me, grinning and returning to what she had been doing.

The lady on the phone was asking me questions that were very hard for me to comprehend when Bella was sucking me off. One of her little hands came up to rub small circles in my hip, and the other went to massage my balls.

"Oh, God," I whispered.

"Is something wrong, sir?" the woman asked.

"No, nothing's wrong. Uh, is that all?" I gasped as Bella's tongue swirled around my dick.

"Yes, sir. Your food will be up in about half an hour."

"Thank you," I said in a strained voice, and I hung up the phone. My hand tangled in Bella's hair. "You evil little minx."

She hummed around me, and the vibrations sent me to the edge of the cliff. Her tongue flicking over the head of my penis sent me over. I exploded into her mouth, and she swallowed it all.

"Bella," I groaned, my hips lifting as I came. "What am I going to do with you?"

"You're going to love me forever," she murmured, kissing up my stomach to my chest.

"That I am," I said, pulling her up to kiss her properly. "You know, we probably have enough time for a shower before breakfast comes."

"Who's the evil one now?" she asked, her fingers walking down towards my cock again.

"Uhh, Bella, if we start again, we're going to have to make that shower a cold one, or we'll never leave the room today."

"We don't have to leave the room today."

"Oh, love, but I was so looking forward to seeing you all wet in one of those tiny little swimsuits I know Alice packed you."

She shrugged. "Okay then. I'll take a shower alone so I don't tempt you." She rolled off of me, out of the bed and walked into the bathroom.

I cursed, looking down at my erection. I'd wait until she was done so she wouldn't notice me taking care of it. What had happened to the shy, clumsy woman I had married? She had turned into a slightly less clumsy, confident sex-goddess. I loved her either way, but I couldn't pretend that her boldness wasn't really, effing hot.

When she was done with her shower, I was still painfully hard. She pretended not to notice as she walked around the room in an extremely small towel. I practically ran into the shower before I jumped her, and by the time I got out, Bella was dressed in her snow white pajamas, waiting in the dining room with our breakfast. I threw on my red plaid, flannel pajama pants, forgoing a shirt, hoping to torture her the way she was torturing me.

"You didn't have to wait for me, love," I told her.

"Well, I wanted to," she said, fingering the strap of her tank top and biting her lip slowly.

"You're doing that on purpose," I accused.

"Maybe." She started eating her scrambled eggs, and I had to tear my eyes away from her mouth to stop from getting another hard-on.

**BPOV**

When breakfast was over, we got ready to go to the hotel pool, which I was actually very excited about. It was huge, and it looked fun. I went through my suitcases to see what kind of swimwear Alice had packed me. Of course, as I had known she would, she had packed me a lot of very small scraps of fabric that I would never have considered wearing in public. And she knew it. But Alice was Alice, and I knew she would be hurt if she found out I never wore any of the scraps of fabric. I chose a white one that I liked then covered it with a light green cover-up. I didn't want anyone to see me in something this revealing, maybe not even Edward. **(AN: Pictures of the suit and the cover-up in my profile.)**

I got on my sandals, Edward put together a bag, and we walked down to the pool together, hand-in-hand. We found two chairs in the shade of a tall palm tree.

"I'll go get us some towels, love," he said to me, kissing my forehead and walking off towards the booth where they handed out beach towels.

I lay down on the long chair and leaned my head back, closing my eyes and letting all my muscles relax.

"Can I get you something to drink?" a voice asked above me.

I opened my eyes to see a tall, dark-skinned man standing next to my chair. He looked Hawaiian with his dark hair and eyes. He was wearing a white, short sleeved collared shirt with the hotel's name and logo on it and a pair or khaki shorts, which meant that he was part of the staff.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," I said, smiling up at him.

"Well, I'm Brad, and if there's anything you need. _Anything_ at all. Feel free to ask."

"Thank you, but I'll be taking care of all her needs," said a silky voice on my other side.

I looked around gratefully to see Edward standing there with a stack of folded towels in his hand. He put the towels down on one seat and picked me up, taking my seat and placing me on his lap. I glanced back up at Brad to see him glaring down at my husband as I felt Edward's lips caress my neck.

I leaned my head back on his shoulder, and I could feel the subtle beat of his heart. I relaxed even more at the comforting sound.

"I believe you wanted to see me wet and scantily clad, Mr. Cullen," I said quietly, and a little nervously, once Brad had left.

"I still do, Mrs. Cullen," he whispered in my ear, sucking the lobe gently between his lips. "But first . . ." he reached down into the bag between our two chairs and pulled out a bottle of waterproof sunscreen, ". . . I need you to put this on. I don't want half an inch of that beautiful skin getting burned."

I smiled and let him torture me as he rubbed the lotion into every part of my skin that was not covered by the small dress. It was getting harder and harder not to jump him as he massaged the white cream into my skin.

"You're gonna have to take this off, love," he said, fingering the material.

"How about I just swim in it," I suggested hopelessly. I really didn't want to show him what was underneath it.

"Nope. If you did, then I'd tell Alice that you didn't like her choice in clothes, and you never wore any of the swimsuits or lingerie. I have a feeling she would be upset about that."

"You're evil, blackmailing your wife. What kind of husband are you?" I asked sarcastically.

"The kind who _really_ wants to see his sexy, gorgeous wife in a very small swimsuit. Please?" he asked, turning the full power of his emerald eyes on me.

"Not fair," I complained, standing up and pulling off the cover-up to reveal what was underneath.

**EPOV**

Holy freaking hell. Was she trying to kill me? Under the very small cover-up that had only reached mid-thigh and had shown a generous amount of her well-sized breasts, was a pure white halter suit that tied around her neck and back. The top pushed her beautiful breasts together, and the bottoms had two strings tied over each hip and were very, _very_ low on her hips. The suit showed off her flat stomach and the curve of her spine. Her silky hair flowed over her pale shoulders, and I wanted to throw her on the pool chair and take her right there. I wanted to show Brad and everyone around us that this perfect creature was mine and mine alone.

"Are you just going sit there staring at me, or are you going to help me put the lotion on my back?" she asked seductively.

Oh, Christ. I was not living through this day, not if I had to touch this goddess and not take her.

I managed to rub the rest of the sunscreen onto the parts of her skin I couldn't access before without getting arrested for public indecency. When I was done, she walked away from me, swaying her hips, and I prayed she wouldn't slip on the wet concrete. She sat down on the edge of the pool and slipped more gracefully than I'd ever seen her move into the water.

"You coming?" she called to me.

I didn't hesitate ripping my shirt off and following her quickly into the pool. She ducked under the water and came up, her hair wet, and her body dripping.

_Get your head out of the gutter,_ I told myself. She was turning me on by doing nothing; it wasn't right; it wasn't fair. I never thought I'd be jealous of water before. Stupid little droplets slithering down her body . . . coating her . . . mocking me. They ran over her breasts, her shoulders, her stomach and hips. I hate water. I swear I would never drink it again. Damn little drops of H2O, feeling up my Bella.

We swam for a while. We raced a couple of times. I let her win. I think she knew though. Later she asked to go see what was under the giant waterfall. So we swam under it, and I showed her. There was a bar, right in the cave. I could tell she'd never seen anything like it before. It was really cool; you could have drinks while still in the pool, but my interest was not in the bar right now. It was in the smaller cave within the cave, the one very few people knew about.

There was a hole in the cave wall at the very bottom of the pool, which in the cave was only about three and a half feet deep.

"I want to show you something," I whispered seductively in her ear.

She nodded, and I took her hand, leading her to where the hole was. I told her to follow me, and I ducked down under the water and swam into the smaller cave. Bella followed me, and when she resurfaced, she looked around. There was a wall separating us from the rest of the artificial cave, and it was pretty dark, except for a small shaft of sunlight that shone through a hole high in outside wall.

"What is this place?" she asked, staring around at it.

"It's a little cave Emmett and I discovered our first summer here. We spent so much time in the pool we learned all the cool nooks and crannies."

"And what were you thinking about doing in this cave, Mr. Cullen?" she asked suggestively.

"Well, I was just intending to show you the place, but now I'm thinking that you're in the mood for something else."

"And what would that be?"

"You know."

"Yeah, but I want to make you say it," she teased.

"I want to take you right here in this small, secluded cave, where anyone could swim in. And I'm almost hoping they do so they'll know you're mine. I've wanted to undress you and pound into you since I saw you in that very small cover-up and then even more when that loser talked to you, but most of all, I've been hard for you since I saw you dripping in these little, white scraps of cloth." I fingered the ties on her swimsuit bottoms.

"Well, believe me, I'm dripping for you now," she whispered.

I shuddered violently, and then I heard a small squelching noise between us. I looked down and saw her white bottoms floating between our bodies. I couldn't stop myself anymore, and I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against me, thrusting my fingers into her soft, warm pussy.

She gasped, and I palmed her breast through her top, stroking her nipples through the fabric. Her head fell back, and she moaned loudly. I could tell the difference between the water and her fluids, and she was right: she was dripping.

"Oh . . . God . . . Edward," she panted, moving her hips against my fingers. "I don't want to come on your fingers. I want you inside me. Please . . . Edward."

"Your wish is my command." I did my best to get my swim trunks off without ripping them, and I pushed her up against the wall of the artificial cave, slipping my hands under her beautiful ass and lifting her up so her legs could wrap around my waist.

I thrust into her hard, kissing her neck almost animalistically. God, she was so tight, so warm, so soft . . . so mine.

Because of my earlier arousal, it didn't take much to bring me to my climax. I reached down to rub her clit, willing her come with me.

"Come for me, Bella," I whispered roughly in her ear, nipping at her lobe.

She arched into me. "Edward," she moaned.

"That's it, love. That's it. Come for me now."

She tightened around me and cried out, the sound echoing around the small space. "Oh, Edward," she muttered almost incoherently. It took her a while to come down from her high, and when she recovered, she sank back down into the water. We stayed there for a long time, kissing and caressing. Then we put the bottoms of our suits back on and swam back out of the cave.

I loved this woman more than I would ever be able to say.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Okay, so the honeymoon was getting kind of boring, so I decided to bring them back to the real world. Enjoy!**

**EPOV**

The rest of our honeymoon was heavenly. We went swimming nearly every day after the day we had sex in the cave. We toured the botanical gardens near the hotel that were full of the most amazing, vibrantly colored plants with huge flowers and a great view of the crystal blue Pacific Ocean. We went dancing at one of the hotel's restaurants, and we played almost every one of the arcade's games. Bella got really good at air hockey.

I fell in love with her more every day, and when that fateful day that we had to return to the real world came, I felt as if our two weeks hadn't been nearly enough. I made a note to come back here again, perhaps next summer.

Though I was sad to leave Maui, I was excited to get back to Forks and show Bella our house. It took us a little while longer to pack than it should have because we had to retrieve various pieces of clothing from every corner of our suite. I think we had probably christened every surface in the place. Bella had certainly become more comfortable around me and a little more adventurous with our sex life. I didn't know if it was because she had twenty-five years of repressed sexual frustration built up inside her, but she seemed to always be ready and willing for me.

After we found all our clothes and were packed and ready, Max said goodbye to us, telling us to come back soon. I left a generous tip for the maid and slipped another to the bellboy who was one of the only males at this hotel with enough brains and self preservation not to look at Bella like he wanted to push her up against the nearest surface and fuck her.

We made our stop over in San Francisco and arrived in Seattle around three o'clock on Saturday afternoon. It took us less time than usual to get from Seattle to Forks because I drove about twenty miles above the speed limit. I was so eager for her to see the house. Esme and Alice had promised it would be fully furnished and decorated by the time we got back. I had made a few special requests after Bella and I's conversation on the Ferris wheel at Funland, but mostly I found it wise to step back when Esme started decorating, and from what I'd seen of Alice at the wedding, I was sure she and my mother had had a field day with our house.

**BPOV**

Our honeymoon was over and Edward was driving us to our new house. From the long and winding driveway, I could tell it would be very secluded, which made me happy. We exited the trees into a clearing, and I gasped. The front lawn was huge. There were tall trees scattered around the yard along with bushes and flowerbeds that were lined up under the windows of the beautiful white house. To say the house was big would have been an understatement. It was a mansion. Who needed this much space? Was he planning to fill all the extra rooms with screaming children? Hmm, miniature Edwards running around the front lawn. Cute.

He parked the Volvo in one slot of the three car garage. In the slot next to it was a black Aston Martin and beside it was another car, but it was covered, so I couldn't see what kind it was. Edward opened my door for me like he usually did, and despite the fact there was a door that lead to the house from the garage, we left through the large garage door and circled around the front of the house. We walked out to the middle of the yard, and now I had a chance to look at the house properly.

It was white, at least three stories, probably with an attic as well. There was a long wrap-around porch that covered all four sides of the house on the second floor and another that covered three sides on the first. It was my dream house. The kind I had always hoped that my husband would buy for us when I had found out that I would have an arranged marriage. I could see a set of French doors at the center of the second floor that led out onto the porch. There were also several windows on either side. I could tell I was going to like this place.

"Five bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, living room, dining room, nice big kitchen, there's a study for me, and a surprise for you that I actually put together myself," Edward said with his beautiful trademark crooked grin.

I smiled widely and threw my arms around his neck, kissing him full on the lips. I loved him so much. He broke the kiss after a while because of the annoying necessity of breathing.

"Are you ready to see our new house?" he asked.

I nodded happily, and he slipped his hand into mine, leading me up the front steps. We reached the door, and he unlocked it, pushing it inward so it swung open. Before I could get a good look at the front room, the ground disappeared out from under me as Edward swept me up into his arms bridal style.

"Edward," I cried in surprise. "Put me down!"

"I have to carry you across the threshold," he said matter-of-factly. "It's tradition."

I laughed and rolled my eyes as he carried me across the threshold. He kicked the door closed with his foot but neglected to put me down.

"Edward, you can put me down now," I told him.

"Maybe I just like carrying you."

I wrapped my arms around his neck to make it easier for him.

He carried me into the open living room. To the right of the door was a grand piano surrounded by big windows that looked out onto the front and side yards.

"Do you play?" I asked, looking at the piano.

He nodded.

"Will you play for me later?" I asked.

"Of course," he promised.

I tore my eyes away from the instrument and looked at the rest of the room. The walls were a light blue and the windows were framed by white trim. There was a large gas fireplace across the room, surrounded by couches and comfy looking chairs. A long flat screen hung over the mantel and bookshelves flanked either side of the fireplace. There were long windows that stretched on either side of the front door, looking out over the front lawn. The windows were framed by long curtains that looked more expensive than I wanted to think about. There was also a grand spiral staircase to the right of an archway that lead into a dining room with a table long enough to fit ten people. The dining room also had many windows through which the light of the setting sun flowed easily.

I walked into the kitchen. It was a lovely shade of orange with maple wood, glass fronted cabinets. The countertops were granite and there was an island in the middle of it, one side of which was a rectangle and faced the large Kenmore refrigerator and the other of which was curved in a half circle and had two chairs pushed up against it. There were two convection ovens, stacked vertically and set into the wall next to the pantry door. The cupboards were already stocked with food and dishes, as was the refrigerator and the pantry.

"Edward, this is amazing," I said, gazing around the kitchen. I loved to cook just as much as I loved to paint. The only kitchen I had ever really cooked in was my parents', which was small and cramped. This was beautiful. There were windows everywhere and the trees were far enough away from the house that sunset screamed through all the large windows, creating beautiful patterns on all the surfaces.

He smiled. "Thank Esme and Alice. They pretty much decorated the whole house. I just made sure they didn't go overboard." He slipped his hand into mine again. "Ready to see the library?"

"There's a library?" I asked, excited.

"Didn't I tell you about that?" he asked.

I shook my head, and he pulled me back through the dining room and into the living room. On the other side of the spiral staircase was a set of heavy, wooden double doors. He opened one of the doors and ushered me inside. The library was almost as big as the dining room. It had floor to ceiling bookshelves that covered every inch of wall except for the left one, on which another fireplace was set into the wall with windows on either side of it that were draped with dark green curtains. The shelves were so high that there was actually a moveable ladder attached to one of them.

A large cushioned leather couch faced the fireplace and two other big leather armchairs sat opposite each other, making a kind of circle around the fireplace. A chandelier with green shades also hung from the ceiling. But the thing that surprised me about the room was not the dark, rich mahogany of the bookshelves and the hardwood floors, it was not the exquisite engraving around the fireplace and the mantel; it was the fact that every single spot on the bookshelves was taken by the hundreds, possibly thousands of books. I walked to the first shelf. Some of the books I recognized as mine, Alice must have gotten my book collection from my parents' house. The other books must have been Edwards. There were three or four shelves full of just first editions. It was amazing. Amazing beyond anything I'd ever seen before.

"Edward . . . I . . . this is incredible." I had no other words for it.

"Well, Alice told me you liked to read, so I figured you would like a room devoted to that purpose." I reached my arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Thank you, Edward. Thank you so much."

He smiled. "If you liked this, then I've got something I bet you'd like better."

I looked up at him questioningly. How could anything be better?

"Come on," he said, taking my hand again and leading me out of the library and up the staircase to the second floor. He led me towards the back of the house where there was a single white door at the end of the hall. When we reached the door he made me close my eyes before he opened it.

I heard the door swing open, and Edward gave me the instructions to open my eyes.

Oh. My. God.

**EPOV**

Her reaction when I showed her the special room I had personally put together for her was amazing.

There was a pair of French doors that lead out onto the second floor wrap around porch, and another two generously sized windows on either side of it. There were very sheer curtains on the widows that would still let light in if they were closed but would not let anyone see inside. The room was painted a light shade of yellow and the floor was a light hardwood. What mattered most, however, were the contents of the room.

There was an oak wood drawing desk in the corner next to one of the windows and a small chest of drawers with wheels on the bottom next to it that held sketchpads of many different sizes, pencils, watercolors, paints, brushes: basically everything an artist needs. There were several canvasses, varying in length and width, leaning against the wall opposite the desk, and in the middle of the room was an easel and a stool with a single blank white canvas already mounted on it.

Once she had gotten over her initial surprise, Bella walked slowly to the French doors and opened them. From the back of the house there was an excellent view of the Olympic mountain range and an obscure river that wound along the foot of the mountains. I had picked this room specifically because if she opened the doors, she could move her easel out onto the porch and have a great view of the mountains and river.

What I had not expected was for her to turn around with tears in her eyes. "Edward," she chocked quietly.

My heart dropped into my stomach. _Oh, God. _I had upset her. In some way I had upset her. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._

"Bella, I'm sorry, if you don't like it I can---"

She hurried over and silenced me with a kiss. When she broke away, she looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said, "Happy tears, Edward. Happy tears." She sniffed and glanced back at the room. "It's perfect." She looked back at me. "God, Edward it's perfect. Just like you." She reached up and stroked my face lovingly. "You're perfect," she whispered. "Why are you so perfect?"

"Would you rather I be horrible and cruel, because if you would . . ."

She silenced me with another kiss. This lasted longer than the previous one. "Where's the bedroom?" she gasped as she pulled away.

"Why?"

"Because I need to rip all your clothes off," she explained.

I smiled and led her back down the hallway, past the staircase, to the master bedroom. I hadn't seen it yet, and I didn't bother looking at it now as Bella wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck, kissing me animalistically. Her pelvis was grinding against mine and her breasts pressed against my chest as her lips attacked my neck.

"I love you, Edward," she muttered against my skin. "I love you so much."

I laid her down on the mattress and crawled over her. But as I leaned down to kiss her lips again, she stopped me.

"I want to try something," she said softly. She pushed me onto my back on the king sized bed and straddled my waist. "I want to be on top this time," she murmured.

It took me a second to realize that though we had had sex on every flat surface in our hotel room, she had always been on the bottom, or with her back against the wall. Oh, God. And now she wanted to ride me. I wanted nothing more.

I nodded once, and her hands went to my shirt collar, beginning to unbutton the buttons slowly and torturously.

"Bella," I groaned as she brushed her fingers lightly over my abdominals, eliciting an involuntary shiver from me. "Bella, please."

"Sit up," she said quietly. I sat up and leaned against the headboard as she pushed my shirt off my shoulders. She slipped off her tank top as well and unzipped her skirt, throwing them both away from the bed. Now she sat on my lap in only a white bra and panty set. I liked the color on her. The white made her skin seem a little darker. She worked the zipper of my pants down, tooth by tooth and when she finally got my pants off, I was already fully aroused, straining against my boxers.

Bella kissed me again, rubbing her beautiful breasts against my chest, taunting me as I felt her hard nipples through her bra. I leaned down and kissed the hollow of her throat, then her collarbone, then down to the top of her bra where I traced the skin above the lace with my tongue.

"Ahh, Edward," she gasped.

She put her little hands on each of my pecs and pressed little butterfly kisses along the middle of my chest, grinding her hips against mine again. "God, Bella," I moaned. Her lips closed around my Adam's apple and sucked lightly, and my eyes closed as my head fell back against the headboard. He fingers trailed down to my boxers and she tugged until my erection sprung free and my boxers were off me.

I reached around and unclasped her bra, letting free her generous breasts for me to fondle and caress. I took one in my hand and kissed the hard, rosy nipple before taking it into my mouth, sucking lightly. Her head dropped back and she moaned loudly, grinding herself against me again.

As I played with her other breast, her hand went to my cock, stroking it lightly, teasing.

"Bella, if I don't bury my cock in your wonderfully tight pussy right now, I'm going to explode," I gasped.

She smiled seductively and shimmied out of her dripping panties, throwing them across the room as well. All of a sudden, she seemed nervous. She had never done this before. She had never been in control. She wasn't exactly sure what to do. It was adorable.

I placed my hands on either side of her hips and lifted her up so she was positioned above me. "Are you ready?" I asked.

She nodded, and I guided her down onto my stiff, waiting cock. We both groaned at the new angle. I could tell she liked this position as I hit the right spot inside her. I lifted her up and guided her back down again, eliciting another moan from her. I helped her for a while until she found a pace of her own. I let go of her hips, and she put her hands on my shoulders to steady herself as she road my cock at a faster pace.

I reached down to play with her clit with one hand and tweak her nipples with the other. Bella moaned involuntarily and threw her head back as she sped up.

"Bella," I groaned. "You are the most amazing thing in the entire universe, you know that right?"

She smiled slightly and let out another loud moan as flicked her clit. I could tell she was getting close, and I leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "You look so sexy when you ride me like that, love. I love when your hot, wet pussy clamps down on my cock as you come. I want to feel that. Come for me, Bella. Come for me now."

She cried out and began to shake as her orgasm overcame her, though she didn't break pace as she continued to ride me. "Edward!" she shouted.

All it took was my name escaping those perfect lips to set me off. I buried my face in her wonderfully soft neck and bit down as I came. She clamped down around me as she came again, and she continued to ride out our orgasms until she couldn't anymore. Bella finally collapsed against me, her breathing heavy, her chest, heaving and her eyes closed as she rested her head on my shoulder.

We stayed like that for a long time while I whispered sweet nothings in her ear. After a while, she lifted herself off me, turning her back to me as she hit the sheets, absolutely exhausted.

I lay down too, wrapping my arm around her waist and spooning her against me. She hummed contentedly and pressed her back against my chest. We fell asleep together in our new bed as the last traces of the setting sun disappeared.

**AN: REVIEW!**

**And for those of you who live in the United States: Happy Inauguration Day! Barack Obama is our 44nd president.**

**Sorry, I'm an Obama supporter and I watched the inauguration with my family. It's a snow day in Charlotte, NC, where I live, so we got to stay home today instead of going to school. And honestly, why would you make kids go to school on inauguration day? I mean, seriously? Half the kids weren't going to be there anyway. Did kids in D.C. have to go to school today? Probably not. (I really actually don't know. But I bet they didn't.) Anyway, I have my last midterms tomorrow. AP European History and AP United States History. On the same day. Funny coincidence that's going to cause me to fail one of them. I'd better go study now, so wish me luck!**


	15. Chapter 15

**BPOV**

I must have slept for at least sixteen hours because I woke up to the sun shining through the many windows in our room. I could feel Edward's body pressed against my back and a strange kind of tickling sensation running over my hip and side. It was like something was . . . rolling? Something was rolling over me. I looked around to see Edward running a very small red car over my hip.

"What are you doing?" I asked, watching as he ran the small car up my side again.

"I have a present for you," he said with a smile.

I looked at him questioningly, and he handed me the little toy car. I examined it carefully. "A tiny red Ferrari?"

Something cold pressed to my naked hip. I glanced at my hip to see a car key and remote laying there.

"Edward, you didn't. . . ."

His crooked smile made another appearance. I looked at the logo on the key. There was that horse on its hind legs. "You bought me a Ferrari!" I almost shouted.

A look of confusion crossed his face. "Do you not want it? Because I could get something different."

"Edward, I have a car."

"You have a twisted, rusty heap of metal that is bound to have the engine fall out any day now. I refuse to let my wife drive around in a safety hazard," he told me.

"I love my truck."

"And now you have a new car to love."

"You actually bought me a Ferrari?" I still couldn't seem to grasp the fact that my husband had bought me one of the most expensive cars on the market. Although I loved my truck, it was inefficient, and I knew it. Trying to go over sixty miles an hour in it was out of the question, and lately it had been breaking down a lot. And a _Ferrari_. I had always been a closet car enthusiast. I had no idea how they worked, but I did know the different makes and models. The little two-door in my hand was a red two-seater with beige upholstery. It was perfect. It was my dream car. I looked at the keys and then at Edward.

"You really got it?"

He nodded.

"Where is it?" I asked, excited.

He looked at me like I had two heads. "Strangely, Bella, it's where most people keep their cars. In the garage."

I felt really stupid. I tried to hide my sentiments as I got up and pulled on the nearest articles of clothing, which happened to be Edward's button down shirt and boxers. I grabbed the keys and rushed down the stairs towards the garage.

**EPOV**

Holy fucking hell.

She looked so god damn hot in my clothes. I hurried after her, tugging on my pants and practically running to the garage. When I got there she had already uncovered the car and was running her fingers lovingly over the hood.

Oh, God. Was it wrong that I wanted to push her onto the hood and fuck her right there?

She looked up at me. "Edward, this is amazing," she murmured, stroking the hood.

I walked slowly past the other cars towards her, trying to suppress my raging hard-on. She stalked towards me as well, sexy little minx. We met in the middle, and she put her small hands on my chest, standing on her tip toes to whisper in my ear. "Wanna go for a ride?"

Did I ever.

"In the car," she clarified.

Tease.

I didn't trust myself to speak, so all I could do was nod.

She ran her hands down my chest, over my abs and down to the waistband of my pants, stroking my arousal for a second before turning back towards the car, swinging her hips as she went.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I followed her best I could without fulfilling my fantasy of taking her on the hood of the car. She got into the driver's seat while I got into the passenger one. She opened the door and sped out of the garage.

Even watching her drive was sensual. The way her hands caressed the wheel when she turned and brushed over the dashboard controls as she searched for a radio station. The way her breasts strained against the seatbelt as she leaned forward to look at something on the road and how her hips shifted in the seat to get more comfortable. I swear I wouldn't be able to take this much longer.

We were driving down an empty mountain road when she suddenly pulled over into a small patch of trees, out of the sight of anyone that might pass us on the road.

"What are you doing," I asked her.

She didn't answer right away but unbuckled her seat belt and climbed over the console, straddling my lap. "If I get any wetter it's going to soak through these boxers onto the nice leather upholstery," she said. "And I don't want to stain my brand new car."

I groaned and got, if possible, even harder, my erection straining against the jeans I was wearing.

"It looks like you have a little problem, Edward," she whispered suggestively in my ear. "Why don't I help you with that?"

Bella promptly undid my jeans and yanked them off my hips and legs, freeing my cock. She dumped them into the driver's seat along with the boxers she was wearing. I could feel her wetness against my thigh as she ground against me, and I moaned loudly.

She didn't bother with foreplay now, she was already wet and ready for me. Slowly, she lifted herself up over me and slid down onto my waiting dick.

Oh, God, this was heaven.

"Bella," I moaned.

She put her hand on my shoulders and lifted herself up again until only the tip of me was inside her, then she drove down again. She continued at that pace for a while, drawing up slowly, then slamming down fast. After a few minutes of this, I could no longer take it.

"Bella, please," I begged. "Faster."

She grinned sexily and obliged, speeding up her pace and riding me hard. Her head fell back in ecstasy as I hit the right spot inside her over and over again. She was nearing her release, riding me faster and faster, but still not reaching the peak. I wanted to hold out for her release, but the pleasure was too great, and I gritted my teeth, trying to restrain my impending orgasm. One of her hands slipped off my shoulders and trailed downwards, disappearing between us. I looked down and saw her slender fingers working her clit as she rode me.

That was my undoing. I cried out her name as I exploded inside her, digging my fingers into her hips and throwing my head back against the seat. She kept up her pace for a few more seconds before she fell over the edge as well, her mouth opening a little and her eyes closing as she shuddered her release. We sat there for a few more minutes, me still sheathed inside her tight, wet warmth. I never wanted to leave this place.

After a while though, she lifted herself off of me and we got redressed in the few clothes we had. Bella started up the engine again and we got back on the road, speeding back to our new house where I was really hoping for a round two in the shower.

**AN: So, they've got to get back to the real world soon, and Edward's got to go to work, so what should Bella do? Any suggestions? Review or PM me any suggestions you have for this story. Please. It would be a lot easier to write if I knew what you guys wanted to read . . . and if I had any idea of what they were going to do in the future. **

**Thanks.**

**-C**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I haven't updated in about two months. I know I am the worst person ever. No, I haven't died or fallen incredibly ill. If I had I'd probably have updated more. No, I've just been busy with my three AP classes and trying to prepare for the SAT, which I have to take in May, along with all my AP tests. I've been overloaded with work, for the last month it's mostly been English. Two words: William Faulkner. Yes, my high school English teacher made us read _Absalom, Absalom!_ I wanted to gouge out my eyes. He is the worst writer ever. Please never read him unless you have to.**

**Anyway, here's another chapter. It's longer than the previous ones. It's not _that_ long, but it's something. Don't count on another update soon because I'm not sure when I'll be able to write again.**

**EPOV**

The alarm when off at seven-thirty on Monday morning, and for the first time in a while, I really didn't want to go to work.

Bella and I had made love for most of yesterday, and I didn't want to leave her here in bed without saying goodbye to her. On the other hand, I had tired her out yesterday, and I didn't want to wake her up. She looked so peaceful.

I got up quietly to take a shower and left a note on her pillow. I grabbed a protein bar and got in my Volvo, speeding away from the house, which was the only way I could go without jumping out of the car and running back up to bed.

I wondered if it would be like this every day. Me leaving Bella alone in bed, while I went off to work. Would she get up tomorrow with me, and we could have breakfast together? Esme had said she wanted to become a teacher. Would she get a job and we would go through our morning routines together?

God, waking up every day next to her, taking a shower together, making breakfast for each other and leaving for work together; I could get used to that.

I arrived at the hospital around eight o'clock, about half an hour before my first appointment. I put my briefcase in my office and checked my email, trying to answer as much as I could before my first patient.

**BPOV**

When I woke up, I rolled over towards Edward's side of the bed and found it empty. I opened my eyes and saw the clock on the bedside table read nine o'clock. There was a note on the pillow next to me.

_I was going to wake you up to say goodbye, but you looked so peaceful that I couldn't bear to disturb you. I should be home around five-thirty or six. Have fun today without me, though I'll be counting the seconds to the end of the day. See you tonight._

_Love,_

_Edward_

I have the best husband in the world.

Oh my God.

Husband.

I don't think I ever really thought about it like that.

I had a husband.

I know I had been prepared by my parents for this since I was born, but I never really thought about it. He was my _husband_. My _husband_. Like together for life, we share everything, husband.

I got up and showered. The bathroom was already stocked with my favorite shampoo and conditioner. I got out and washed my face then got dressed. After a quick bowl of cereal, I brushed my teeth and started to explore the house.

The place was so beautiful, and I noticed something I hadn't the other day. There were pictures on the mantel of our wedding. Alice or Esme must have put them there. There was one of us on the alter with Edward kissing me for the first time. There was another of us stuffing cake into each other's faces, and the last one was of us dancing at the reception. In that one, Edward was looking down at me with such love in his eyes, I could practically feel it emanating out of the photograph.

I wandered into the library, checking out more closely the books we had in there. There were several volumes of medical jargon, a set of encyclopedias, all the books I had acquired since high school, some first editions, and many books that I had read but never owned, that must have been Edward's. I flipped through a couple of them, but I had an urge to read something new, so I grabbed my purse and keys and went out to the garage to drive to the library I had seen on our way to the house on Saturday.

The library was fairly decent, better than the one near my parents' house. As I roamed the shelves I saw a group of kids sitting in a wing of the library, reading quietly while a woman I assumed was their teacher watched over them to make sure they were behaving.

That gave me an idea,

I slowly approached the woman at the desk. "Excuse me, ma'am," I said quietly so as not to disturb the people working around us.

"Yes, dear?" she asked. She was a motherly-looking old woman with graying hair and glasses that hung on a chain around her neck.

"What are those kids doing here?" I asked.

She glanced over at the group. "Oh, they're from the elementary school down the street. They come here every week to read about whatever they're studying. We used to have a group come in every day, different grades and classes and one of us would read to them, but we're short-staffed, and it's just me and Marian here during the day." She pointed at another woman who was shelving books. "Now just the grades who can read really well come in."

"Well, I was thinking of volunteering here during the week if that would be okay. I need something to keep me busy during the day."

Her face lit up. "That would be wonderful, dear," she said with a kind smile. "Would you read to the children? That way we could have the younger ones come in."

"I'd love to," I said without thinking twice. I had always liked children.

"When could you start?"

"Whenever you need me to."

"Oh, dear, you are a lifesaver. The children will be so happy." She held out her hand to me. "I'm Susan Peters."

I took her hand and shook it. "I'm Bella Cullen."

"Cullen?" she said like a question. "Are you by any chance Dr. Cullen's wife."

I nodded happily. "You know him?"

"Yes, my husband works with him and his father at the hospital. Wow, you must have just gotten back from your honeymoon."

I nodded again.

"He's a very good-looking young man, dear. You are a lucky young woman."

I grinned widely. "I know."

She smiled as well and turned away to open a drawer of the filing cabinet behind her. She pulled out a form and handed it to me. "Well, if you wouldn't mind filling out this form, Mrs. Cullen, we just have to run a background check to make sure that you're not a dangerous criminal, and get some contact information."

I took the form. "Thank you, and you can call me Bella," I told her.

I went to a table nearby and filled out the form. Name, address, phone number, occupation, blah, blah, blah. I filled it all out and gave it back to Mrs. Peters.

"Thank you, Bella," she said. "I'll contact the school to and tell them the good news, and I'll call you when they want to bring the kids over."

"If you don't mind my asking, how would this work?" I asked her.

She put the form away, and then turned back to me. "Basically I'll tell you at the beginning of the week what groups are coming and what each one is studying. Usually they have a different topic each week. "You'll just pull some books on the topic, and pick two or three to read to them, depending on the length. And then put some more out on a cart so they can look at them for a little while more."

"That seems easy enough," I mused. "How many days a week will I work."

She thought about that for a second or two. "Probably not every day. But at least three days a week. I'll e-mail you on Fridays to let you know what days and hours we'll need you so you can make other plans. If you have something to do and you can't work one day, just tell me, and I'll make sure that the school knows that."

"Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Peters," I told her.

"No, thank you, dear. This is such a big help. The children will be so pleased."

I smiled and said goodbye to her, leaving the library, getting back in my Ferrari, and returning home.

**EPOV**

Uh. It was four-thirty, and I was almost done. My last patient of the day was waiting, and as soon as I was done, I could go home to my Bella.

I grabbed the file and opened the door to find the one person I really never wanted to see again.

_Stupid. _I should have looked at the name on the file before I entered the room. I could have traded off with another doctor. I would rather have ten screaming four-year-olds at once than her.

"Hello, Ms. Delani," I said as politely as I could as I shut the door behind myself. I felt like I was shutting myself in a cage with a rabid lion.

The woman looked at me with a kind of mocked surprise. "Why the formality, Edward? I think we're both past that." She leaned forward, with her palms against the edge of the table. The flimsy shirt she was wearing was pulled down a little more at the already low neckline showing me some more of her rather large breasts. I was sad to say that I couldn't even scoff at them with the excuse that they were fake, because I knew perfectly well that they were real. Everything about her body and face was real. She was very beautiful, not nearly as gorgeous as my Bella, but still quite a looker. However, unlike a couple of years ago, I was not in any way tempted.

"Ms Delani, this is my place of work and you are my patient. Unless you are a minor, I will address you formally by your last name, and you will address me as Dr. Cullen."

"Ooo, commanding. I always liked when you ordered me around."

I did my best to ignore the comment. "What seems to be the problem, Ms. Delani?" I asked, taking out my pen to take notes on whatever was wrong with her besides the fact that she was delusional.

"Well, Dr. Cullen," she started in a slightly mocking tone, "I think I might have breast cancer, but I'm not sure, do you think you could help me check?" she asked, trying to be seductive.

"Ms. Delani, I'm not an oncologist. Cancer is not my specialty. If you are truly concerned that you might have a tumor, I can refer you to a specialist."

"Well that's the thing, Dr. Cullen, I'm not sure how to check for them. Will you please help?" She pouted just a little.

There had been a time where she could use that use that face to coerce me into doing just about anything she wanted me to, but that was a long time ago, and now only one woman had that power over me, and she was several miles away.

"What makes you think you might have breast cancer?" I asked seriously.

"My mother had it," she said automatically.

Damn it. Her mother had died of breast cancer. I remembered that now. And since an immediate family member had died of the disease, it was very possible that she did have the ailment as well. I had to check her. It was my professional duty. I hated my job.

"So you've never learned how to check for this particular kind of cancer?" I asked.

She shook her head. I highly doubted that since her mother had been a victim to it. I remembered Tanya staying up for entire nights at a time researching it in my medical textbooks while her mom was in the hospital. She was anxious to learn whatever she could about it to try and find some kind of cure.

"Okay," I sighed, resigned. I put down her file and my pen. "Take your shirt off, please, Ms. Delani."

"What, no foreplay, Edward? You usually take a little longer to get me out of my clothes."

I glared at her seriously. She stared right back at me and pulled off her shirt with no shame, revealing a red lace bra.

"Now, you need to feel very gently around you breasts to find any lumps."

"You always did like to watch, didn't you?"

I didn't respond to that, but pretended to look over some things in her file.

"Dr. Cullen." I looked up, immediately wishing that I hadn't. She was sitting there, legs spread, letting me see a very clear view of the space between them, revealed by the almost non-existent skirt she was wearing. I could see that she had on matching red lace panties. I looked up and saw her long finger cupping her breasts, massaging them lightly. I glanced farther up at her face; bitch had on an evil little smile.

"Yes?" I asked with gritted teeth.

"I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for. Could you help me?"

I wanted to so much to scream at her to get out, but instead I forced myself to walk over to her and cup one of her rather large breasts in my hands, tracing the familiar path around it, searching for any sign of a tumor. She moaned quietly, arching against my touch. Both breasts were smooth except for the puckered centers. As soon as I was confident that there was nothing wrong with them, I released her quickly and made a note on her file.

Then I took a scrap piece of paper and scribbled down a name and number. I turned back to Tanya. "There doesn't seem to be any problems yet, but if you do find a lump or have any more concerns you can call this man. He's the head of oncology at this hospital, and he's very good at his job."

She took the slip of paper from me and slid it into her purse. I turned away again to make another note on her file, thanking the lord it was almost over so I could get back to Bella.

Suddenly something soft pressed up against my back and I felt lips on the back of my neck.

That's was it.

"Tanya," I barked, and she released me.

"What's wrong, Edward," asked sweetly. "It's after five, clinic hours are over. You don't have to pretend anymore. You can just be yourself."

I whipped around sharply, and she immediately pressed herself up against my chest. She pushed her barely clothed self against me, and smiled at me seductively. "Come on, Eddie, you know you've missed me."

I grabbed her upper arms, trying not to hurt her, but also forcing her away. "Tanya, we're over. We've been over for at least five years. I'm married now. _Happily_ married. _You_ ended our relationship, yet you continue to come around and try to get me to take you back. It's not happening, Tanya. So leave me alone. _Don't_ come down here again. Do you understand me?"

"If I remember correctly, Edward, _you_ broke up with _me_."

"If I remember correctly, Tanya, _I_ was the one who walked in on _you_ riding my roommate on my bed. So I think I was completely justified in my choice." I glared down at her. "I'm leaving, and you will not come down here to see me again. Switch doctors."

I scooped up her file and left, slamming the door behind myself. I finished up the rest of the files in my office, and grabbed my bag, locking my office and leaving the hospital.

When I got home, I walked upstairs quietly to find Bella in her studio. She was painting the forest behind our house, the river, the trees, and the sunset. It was beautiful. I leaned against the doorway as I watched my love's brow furrow, concentrating hard on her work.

I waited until she removed her brush from the canvas before I spoke, and it was a good thing too, because when I did she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Sorry, love," I said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

She stood up quickly. "Oh, Edward, I meant to have dinner ready for you, but I guess I lost track of time."

"That's okay, love." I walked over to her, wrapping my arms around her from behind and kissing her neck. "Mmm, I missed you today."

"I missed you too," she whispered, laying her hands on mine.

"That's beautiful," I told her sincerely, looking at her painting.

"It's not finished yet," she said.

"It's still beautiful," I said. "You're really good."

"Thanks," she whispered, leaning back into me.

"Let me go make dinner," she said, taking one of my hands and leading me downstairs towards the kitchen.

"How was your day?" she asked as she got out ingredients for lasagna.

I shrugged. "Sick people, cured them. Another day at work." I didn't want to tell her about Tanya. She shouldn't be a problem anymore, so Bella didn't need to know about her. "What about you?" I asked, wanting to take the subject away from me.

She shrugged as well. "I went by the library. And I kind of offered to volunteer there during the week, if that's okay. It's just I've got nothing else to do, and . . ." she trailed off, uncertain.

"Bella, it's okay. I'm glad you found something to keep you occupied during the week." I paused. "So, do you know what you're going to do there?"

"I offered to read to the elementary school students down the road."

"Really?" I asked surprised. "I didn't know you liked kids."

"They're cute when they're not screaming and crying."

She turned back to the stove. "Do you want some wine?" she asked.

"Sure, I'll get it," I said, walking to the fridge and getting the wine, and reaching up for the wine glasses. I found Bella watching me intently.

"What?" I asked.

She gave her head a little shake. "Nothing," she said.

I poured us each a glass of white wine and handed one to her. "Do you mind if I turn on some music?" I asked as she took a sip.

She shook her head, and I went over to the radio/CD player and found my favorite classical music station.

Her hips swayed to the beat as she made dinner. I just sat on one of the bar stools, being useless, but watching her intently as she cooked. Even watching her cook was sexy, which is kind of pathetic of me, but hey, she's my wife.

By the time she stuck the lasagna in the oven, I couldn't take it anymore. She had bent over to put the pan in the oven, giving me a nice view of her sweet little ass. As she straightened up, I came up behind her and grabbed her hips, pulling her back against me.

"You feel that, love?" I asked, grinding my erection into her ass.

She groaned in response.

"That's from watching you're pretty little hips sway for the past twenty minutes."

"Dinner's almost ready," she gasped.

"Screw the lasagna. I want you right now."

I flipped her around and lifted her onto the counter. I quickly unzipped her pants and tugged them down her legs. Once they were off, I reached down and stroked her through her panties as I kissed her roughly. She moaned against my lips and circled her arms around my neck, thrusting against my hand, trying desperately to create some kind of friction.

I kissed my way down the pale column of her neck, reaching my fingers into her panties and slipping my fingers into her warm heat. She groaned and bucked against my hand, taking my earlobe into her mouth and sucking lightly. "Edward, please."

I removed her panties too and dropped to my knees in front of her, spreading her beautiful legs and kissing the insides of her thighs closer and closer to her center until I placed one final kiss on her sweet little bundle of nerves. She bucked again and I slipped my tongue into her wet heat, lapping up the juices. She tunneled her fingers through my hair, and held my head still as I licked contentedly at her dripping pussy. So good. So sweet. Her taste was so damned exquisite. I would gladly give up food and water if I could live off of her.

I sucked gently on her clit, making her gasp and writhe under my touch. I hummed softly against her as her breath came in short, shallow gasps. "Edward. Oh, God, Edward. It feels so good, please . . ."

I lifted my face from her folds slowly and gazed up at her. "Come for me, love. Come for me now." I dipped my head back down and plunged my tongue into her wet slit. She screamed her orgasm, clutching my head to her sweet cunt and shuddering her release.

She let go of me. "Sorry," she said, embarrassed.

I shook my head. "No, I liked it. It was kind of hot."

The oven dinged, and I carefully pulled her panties and jeans up, turning away to get the lasagna out. I set it on the cooling rack as Bella collected herself. She managed to hop down from the counter, steadying herself. She took a sip of her wine, and struggled over to the table with plates and silverware. I dished out the hot lasagna and got us each more wine, plus some rolls that I had picked up on my way home.

Dinner was nice. I told Bella about some of my more interesting patients; of course I couldn't use any names because of doctor-patient confidentiality, but she seemed to enjoy stories.

After dinner I washed the dishes as she wrapped up the leftovers. I suggested we watch a movie, and she agreed. We popped some popcorn and turned on a romantic comedy about a woman who was in love with her boss and was crazy about weddings. She kind of reminded me of Bella's friend Alice, from what I'd seen of her at the wedding and what Bella had told me about her. Though Alice was a little more bouncy, she seemed like she would be obsessive when planning a wedding.

Bella fell asleep cuddled against my side.

I picked her up and carried her to bed, removing her shirt and pants before tucking her in. I stripped down to my boxers as well and crawled into bed next to her, pulling her back to my chest and kissing her neck.

"Goodnight love," I whispered.


	17. Chapter 17

**EPOV**

I woke up with my arm around Bella's waist and my face buried in her soft neck. Mmm. Heaven. I breathed in deeply her sweet scent and reached a hand up her shirt to stroke her soft stomach. I felt my angel stirring, and she turned her beautiful face to me.

"Good morning, love," I whispered, kissing her nose.

"Morning," she said with a smile. "What time is it?" she asked, trying to see the clock over my shoulder.

I glanced at it. "I need to get ready," I told her.

She nodded. There was something wrong with her expression. I couldn't tell exactly what it was, but something was off. "I'll go make you some breakfast," she said, getting up.

I stared after her. Something was definitely wrong. I tried to figure out what it was in the shower. Maybe it was just the whole weirdness of the situation. I mean, we hardly knew each other, and we were married, living in the same house, sharing the same bed. I guess it was kind of weird. But I was comfortable. I felt like I'd known Bella forever, like she was some part of me that I had never really realized was there.

I got dressed and came downstairs to the wonderful smell of French toast, eggs, bacon, and coffee. She put a plate down in front of me without a word and poured me a cup of coffee.

I looked at her curiously. "Are you okay, love?" I asked gently, taking a sip of my coffee.

"Of course," she said with a shrug. "Why wouldn't I be?" She sat down next to me at the high counter with a plate of her own.

I tried to forget about it, and took a bite of my French toast. I almost moaned in ecstasy. "Oh my God, Bella. This is the most amazing thing I've ever tasted."

She glanced over at me with a cocked eyebrow and a small smile tugging her lips. "Except you of course," I amended truthfully.

She made a little sound of doubt but didn't say anything.

When we finished breakfast, she took our plates away.

"Do you want some coffee for the ride to work?" she asked, putting our plates in the sink.

"Sure," I said. "I'll get it."

I went to the cupboard to get a travel mug, and Bella poured me some more coffee. "Thanks, love," I said sincerely, leaning forward and kissing her on the lips.

"Have a good day at work," she said as I made my way towards the garage.

**BPOV**

Once Edward had left, I started to wash our breakfast dishes. I had just finished when the phone rang. I picked it up to hear Mrs. Peters on the other end. She told me that the elementary school wanted to bring their kids over tomorrow. There would be two groups and they would be learning about plants.

I promised her to be there at ten o'clock, and she thanked me again, telling me she'd see me tomorrow.

I decided since I was being so productive, cleaning and all, I would do the laundry. We had a lot left over from Maui. I emptied the hamper in the laundry room on the second floor, which I was grateful that either Esme or Alice had thought to put on. Honestly, having the washer and dryer in the basement or off the kitchen is kind of pointless because all our clothes and sheets and everything were on the second floor. Carrying them downstairs and then carrying them back up was just extra unnecessary work.

I separated the darks from the lights and went into our room to get the clothes we had discarded last night. As I picked up Edward's shirt, the mark that I had noticed last night caught my eye. Lipstick on the back of his collar. Just a little. I thought about what I had seen last night. This little bit of makeup proved that I hadn't imagined the imprint of a woman's lips on the back of his neck yesterday. I had tried to push it to the back of my head, but this morning, when I woke up, I couldn't seem to pretend.

I had given myself a strong mental talk as I made breakfast. I had to act normal around him. Like a good wife should. But he had fooled me, bastard.

No, I couldn't jump to conclusions, there could be any number of reasons why it had happened. Maybe one of the nurses had accidentally bumped into him and unintentionally left the mark.

But then wouldn't the woman have told him? If I had accidentally left a lipstick mark on the back of a random guy's neck, I would tell him so he wouldn't look like a complete idiot walking around the whole day with it.

Maybe they had been standing in an elevator together and someone had pushed her into him and she hadn't noticed what happened.

Unlikely.

I lifted the shirt to my face and inhaled. There was a distinct smell of perfume on it. A perfume that I didn't use. And the smell was strong. To leave that much the woman would have had to be rubbing against him. It was on both the back and front.

"Bastard," I whispered.

Edward had tricked me. He had pretended to be different. He had pretended like he cared about me and only me. He had made me feel like I was the thing in the world that mattered most to him. He had gone to the extent of making sure we didn't hate each other before marrying me so we wouldn't be miserable. He had lied.

The only conclusion I could draw from this was that he had been with another woman. Another nurse? A patient? I didn't think he would be like that with a patient. He seemed like he would be very professional in the workplace, at least with his patients. Probably a nurse.

I wanted to cry. I had loved him. I had thought that I had lucked out enormously, getting a husband that both my parents approved of and that cared for me. One that didn't make me obey him. He didn't make me feel subordinate to him. He could by the rules of our church. I technically belonged to him.

Of course that meant that he could do whatever the hell he wanted with other women. _I_ couldn't fuck with other men, but he could do whatever he wanted. He was free. He was the husband.

This also meant that I had to just sit back and keep my mouth shut. He could fucking bone a girl in our bed while I was in it as well, and I would never be able to do anything about it. We were bound for life.

Stupid life.

Esme called me around eleven o'clock and asked me if I could meet her at a café in Port Angeles for lunch. I decided to do so. From what I could tell, Esme and Carlisle were good people. I had no doubt they had done their best to raise their son right. It wasn't their fault that he had turned out wrong.

We meat at a cozy little place called Twilight, and after the waiter took our drink orders, we started to talk.

I told her how good Edward had been to me on our honeymoon and I thanked her repeatedly for furnishing and decorating the house.

She told me it was nothing and that it was what she enjoyed doing. We talked about Alice, who had helped her with the project. Apparently they had grown close while completing the task.

We talked about all kinds of things, including some amusing stories about Edward's childhood which I couldn't help but be enchanted by. He must have been an adorable little delinquent. He and Emmett used to pull all kinds of pranks at the school, but no one had ever been able to pin it on them even though everyone knew they did it. It had apparently driven the principal insane enough that he retired early after they blew up a toilet. I almost fell in love with him more, but then I remembered the big fat imprint of another woman's lips on the back of his neck and I tried my best to hold my composure so I didn't give anything away.

Apparently I sucked at hiding my emotions because Esme looked at me, concerned.

"Are you okay, Bella?" Esme asked.

I gave my head a little shake to clear it. "Yeah," I said, trying to be convincing.

I don't think she really believed me, but she said nothing more on the subject.

When lunch was over I thanked Esme again, especially since she insisted on paying, and we said our goodbyes, her making me promise to keep in touch so we could do something like this again sometime. She even suggested that we maybe go shopping with Alice soon. That would certainly be an experience.

Just as I was thinking about how tortuous that outing might be, my phone rang, and Alice's caller ID flashed across the screen.

As soon as I answered hello, I immediately heard a stream of babbling on the other end.

"Whoa, slow down, Alice," I said.

"BellaBellaBella. OhmyGod. BellaBellaBellaBella."

"Yes."

" Esmesetupthethingwiththeguyandthenhesaidyesandgavemeajobandwe'removingand . . ."

"Darlin', slow down," I heard Jasper's voice in the background. "I don't think she can understand you."

I heard a couple of deep breaths and this time when Alice spoke, it was slower and more understandable.

"I love you so much, and I love your parents, and I love your church. I am so glad that you are my friend. Oh, my God, Bella, if I hadn't met you and then you hadn't gotten this arranged marriage, then I would have never met Esme, and she got me an interview with Jean Baptiste Haminoc, and he said he liked my designs so he gave me a job!"

"A job? Doing what?" I asked, excited.

"I'll be one of his assistants. I'll help him come up with new designs and make modifications and everything. And he said I can work from wherever I want, but he'll have to fly me out to Paris a couple of times a year, especially for Fashion Week in the fall!"

"Oh, Alice, that's so great." I was truly happy for her. She had always wanted to be a designer, and she had been looking all over Europe and America for a place that would take her. But so far she hadn't had any luck. Until now that is.

"Bella, I'm moving to Forks!"

"What?"

"Jean Baptiste said I could work from anywhere, so Jasper and I are moving to Forks."

"Wait, why, Alice. I thought you loved England."

"I do. I love London and the city. But the rent here is really steep, and the apartment isn't that big. And I know I'll be getting a lot more pay with this new job, but Jasper has always wanted to live in the mountains, and I think it might be kind of fun to live someplace green. He already got a job teaching history at Forks Community College, and we're moving in a week. Esme helped us get a house kind of near yours. It's not as big, but it's beautiful and secluded. And I'm gonna work from home."

"But, Alice, where will you shop?" I asked mockingly.

"Shut up, Bella! I'll be near enough to Seattle, and on weekends I can drive down to California. Besides, I'll be going to Paris a couple of times a year, and I'll be near you and Edward and Esme. Hey, maybe you, Esme and I should go to California one weekend to shop."

"I'm so happy for you, Alice. Tell me when you're coming in and I'll come to get you." I was slightly distracted as I thought about Alice moving here. Did I want her here while I watched my new marriage fall apart?

"Oh, God, Bella, I forgot to ask you, how was your honeymoon?"

"It was great," I told her honestly. I just wish it could have stayed that way.

"Oh, come on, Bella, you have to give me more details than that. What about your wedding night?"

"I'll tell you all about it when you get here," I said, really not wanting to get into this right now.

"No, Bella, you can't leave me hanging like that!" she cried.

"Sorry, Al, you're gonna have to wait for that story. I'll see you in a week." And I hung up.

I folded the laundry and put it away, trying to think about something other than the fact that the two month long love of my life, my husband, and who I thought had been my soul mate, was cheating on me.

_He's probably with her right now,_ I thought resentfully. _Fucking her in the janitor's closet. _

I couldn't stand this anymore. So I did what I always did when I was frustrated. I went to paint.

**EPOV**

I got home around six and found Bella in her studio again. The painting was almost finished, and even better than it had been the previous day. She was so talented. I loved her more than life. I crept up silently behind her. She was so absorbed by the painting that she didn't even notice me until I pressed my lips to the side of her neck. She jumped a little then looked at me and flinched. That was odd.

"Are you okay, love?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said with a little shake of her head. "Uh, I'll go get dinner ready." She got up from her stool.

"Bella, you know you don't need to. I mean, if you want to finish your painting, I'm perfectly capable of making dinner."

"No," she said, not looking me in the eye. "I'll do it." She left.

That was strange. She wasn't acting normally. Of course, I had no idea how she normally acted before I met her. But I was fairly certain that this Bella was different from the Bella I had know on our honeymoon or the shy Bella that I had taken to the amusement park. That was _my _Bella, shy but at the same time a little sex vixen. This was not my Bella.

**AN: Review!**

**To all of you who reviewed, first of all, thank you. And second of all, you gave me the idea for this chapter. A lot of your commented on Bella "watching Edward intently" and asked if he had lipstick on the back of his neck or something. I hadn't intended it to be like that. I was going to go into her POV and have her commenting on how amazing she thought he was or some such mush. But then so many people asked about it, and I decided, hey, what the hell. Now I have conflict. Thank you. I was having trouble thinking about what would go wrong in Forks. Ha Ha.**

**Hopefully I'll be able to write more soon. It's Spring Break now, but I'm taking Driver's Ed for most of the day during this week because I was an idiot and didn't take it my freshman or sophomore years when I had the chance. I'm also writing an eight to ten page paper that will determine whether or not I graduate high school and preparing for the SAT and my AP exams so the chapters will be sporatic and probably infrequent. Sorry.**

**Anyway, next chapter should have a little more drama in it. I don't know how good it'll be. I plan to bring Tanya back soon though. Review and let me know what you think of Bella's assumptions? Is it too far fetched? Do you think she's being horrible at not trusting Edward and jumping to conclusions before she even asks him about it? Tell me please.**

**-C**


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Okay, so first things first. Another chapter. Be happy because I wrote this chapter instead of preparing for my AP tests like I should have so I've decided that if I actually want to go to a good college, I should try and at least pass those. So I shouldn't be posting anything until after May 10. Sorry. **

**A lot of people reviewed the last chapter which made me happy. Most of you said that you would jump to conclusions like Bella did, but you also said she should confront Edward about it. Well, she's not going to, not yet anyway, and I'll tell you why. When she got married, there were a set of standards that she was supposed to uphold. She should make him dinner every night, do his laundry, clean the house, have sex with him whenever he wants it, bear his children, yada yada yada. That's what she's been brought up to believe. Edward, of course, is different and doesn't make or expect her to do those things. He truly loves her and wants her to be equal to him rather than subordinate. That's one of the reasons she is so sad, because she thought he wasn't going to be a complete asshole. So when she found the lipstick on his collar, she immediately thought he was cheating on her, which he would have every right to do in the eyes of their twisted religion. If she confronted him about it or told anyone else, he could use the excuse that he wasn't being satisfied at home or whatever (which of course he would never say because he's Edward, but on the other hand, she doesn't know him that well). But what she's been taught is to hide her emotions and not burden her husband with her problems.**

**Also, a lot of you asked during the honeymoon chapters if Edward was a virgin. I either wrote in an author's note, or I think I responded to some of your reviews and told you he was. Well, I'm sorry, but he's not. That was my mistake. I was fully intending to make him a virgin, but then this whole Tanya thing came into my head, and that became fairly impossible. But I've decided now, yes he had sex with Tanya, but she's the only woman he's had sex with besides Bella. Hopefully that's cleared some things up for you guys. **

**Enjoy the chapter.**

**BPOV**

I walked into the Forks Public Library on Wednesday at ten o'clock. The kids were due at ten thirty, and I had to pick out some books for them. It was really amazing what people wrote books on. I mean, who knew that people actually wrote books about Venus fly traps for children. I never read these kinds of books when I was little.

Five minutes before the children were due to arrive, Mrs. Peters approached me. "Bella," she said. "I know you're reading to first graders today, but there's also going to be a group of teenagers from the local high school coming here to do some research for a big project. They're studying World War II, so do you think you might be able to pull some books on the subject and possibly help them if they need it?" she asked hopefully. "I'd do it, but Marian is sick today so it's only me, and . . ."

I didn't let her finish. "Of course," I told her. "I'll stay as long as you need me to."

"Thank you so much," she said gratefully.

I read to the kids. They were actually surprisingly well behaved for first-graders. They were patient and listened attentively, and when I finished, they all begged for another. A lot of them came up and thanked and hugged me afterwards. They were so adorable. It made me want to have kids even more. Maybe not now, but I definitely wanted a couple of these of my own. I'm sure, no matter whether Edward was a cheating bastard or not, he would probably make some cute kids.

"Miss Bella," one of them asked sweetly. The other kids were reading on their own, mostly looking at the pictures actually.

"Yes?" I asked, seeing a little black-haired boy standing in front of my armchair.

"Can you read me this book," he asked with an adorable little smile. He looked up at me with wide brown eyes, and I couldn't resist.

"Of course," I said, picking him up and sitting him on my lap. "What's your name?" I asked him.

"Seth," he answered with a toothy grin.

"Okay, Seth," I said, "let's see what we have here."

I read him the story about a little boy who grows a huge garden in his backyard, so huge that it becomes his own little world. Some of Seth's friends came to lean against my armrests and look over my shoulders to hear me read another story.

When it was finally time to go, Seth lagged behind and held my hand as they walked in a straight line out of the library. He tried to stay behind with me, but his teacher made him leave. I promised that the next time they came here I would read to him again. He immediately begged his teacher to let them come back tomorrow.

The eleventh grade came about half an hour after the little ones left. I had compiled a cart of books on World War II, and once they had sat down I told them that if they needed any help with anything then they could ask me.

Unfortunately these kids were not as sweet as the little ones. I noticed several of the boys staring at my ass and boobs. Despite how mad I was at him, I wished Edward was here at this moment. I could just see him beating the crap out of all of them just for looking at me. I smiled at the thought.

"Newton, eyes up," I heard a voice say.

I turned around just in time to see a tall boy with russet skin and long black hair slap his hand under the chin of a blonde haired blue eyed boy sitting at a table and whose eyes were at about the same level of my ass.

When the blonde boy saw that I had noticed the location of his eyes, he blushed and looked down at his work.

**EPOV**

What had been going on with Bella lately? I hated the fact that I couldn't even concentrate on my work when I knew she was upset. I was minorly distracted all day. By closing time, I was again more ready than ever to leave. When I got home I was going to ask Bella what had been bothering her, and I wouldn't take no for an answer.

I just had one more patient. I looked down at the file in my hand. The name jumped out at me first. _Tanya Delani_.

Oh, shit no.

I hurried to our receptionist. "Lucy, could I trade patients with someone else? I'll take two more, please?" I tried to use every charm I had to convince her.

Lucy looked down at the file and shook her head. "Sorry, Edward, this one asked specifically for you. She said she wouldn't see anyone else. Why, is there something really wrong with her?"

I ran a hand through my hair. "She likes to hit on me a lot."

"Well, how can you really blame her, Edward? Have you looked in the mirror lately? You're never going to be able to avoid women hitting on you."

"This one is a lot more persistent."

"Okay, Edward, I'll make you a deal, you see this woman one more time, and I'll make a note to tell her that you're busy whenever she tries to make another appointment."

"Thank you, Lucy," I said gratefully, giving her my best crooked smile.

Just one more time. One more time, and then I would never have to see her again.

I took a deep breath as I entered the room. I opened the door and shut it behind me without looking at her.

"So, Ms. Delani, what seems to be the problem today?"

"Edward, I think I found a lump."

I looked up. "Did you see the doctor I recommended for you?"

"His appointments are full for the next two months, I don't have time to wait that long. I need you to check it out. Edward, please." She actually looked sincere.

"Okay," I said. "I need you to take off your shirt."

She made no comment sexual or otherwise as she pulled the loose t-shirt over her head. Today she was dressed comfortably in a t-shirt and sweatpants.

"Which one is it on?" I asked.

She pointed to her left breast and I ran my gloved fingers gently along the underside. After a second or two, my fingers tripped over something. I went back and felt it. There was definitely something there.

"Ms. Delani, I need you to remove your bra for me please."

Again, she followed my instructions without comment. I bent down, lifting her breast up and running my fingers over the lump. "Does that hurt?" I asked.

She shook her head.

I released her and got up. "Okay, I'm going to schedule you for a biopsy as soon as possible, and that will tell us whether that lump is something to be worried about."

She nodded, putting her bra and shirt back on.

"I'll be right back," I told her. I went and checked the openings and made her an appointment for next week to get a biopsy.

When I got back into the room, Tanya was sitting on the bench with her head down. When the door closed she looked up. There were tears streaming down her face. And I did what I never should have done. I broke the doctor-patient professionalism.

"Tanya, what's wrong?" I asked.

"Edward," she sniffed, "I don't want to die."

I went over to her and put my hand on her cheek, wiping away her tears. "Tanya, no one said you were going to die."

"Don't lie to me, Edward. Not you. You know perfectly well that my mother died of this. I don't want to go the same way. I don't want to lose my hair and maybe my breasts as well. Edward, I can't," she sobbed. "Please, Edward, I'm so scared." She flung her arms around my neck and cried into my chest.

I didn't really know what else to do but wrap my arms around her as well. I mean, I couldn't very well push her away. She was genuinely worried about this. And I knew that to Tanya her physical appearance was one of the most important things. To her, dying or living the rest of her life without her hair or breasts would be absolutely detrimental.

She stayed there, crying into my chest for a few minutes. I just held her and stroked her hair as she got a big wet spot on my white coat.

"Tanya," I said soothingly. "Last time you saw me, there was nothing there. It's very early, and if you do indeed have a tumor, it should be treatable before anything happens. Okay?"

She sniveled and nodded.

"Now, I got you a biopsy next Monday. You should have the results by Wednesday. If there's something really wrong, we'll be able to catch it early and treat it."

She lifted her head from my chest, and looked up at me with her hazel eyes. "I'm sorry, Edward," she whispered.

"Don't be sorry," I said. "Look." I pulled out my card and scribbled my home number on the back. "Here's my number. When you get the results, call me, and we'll figure out what we need to do."

She nodded and slipped the card into her purse. I went over to the counter and handed her a packet of papers stapled together. "Here's some information about the surgery and there's a website at the bottom that'll tell you more."

She nodded, and I turned to leave.

"Edward," she called me back.

I turned around and before I knew what was happening, her lips were pressed against mine. As soon as I registered the fact, I pushed her away. "Tanya," I said sternly. "I know you're going through a rough time. And I can be here for you if you want me to. But not like that. We broke up years ago, and I'm married now. I love my wife more than anything, and I'm not going to betray her."

She nodded, and I left.

As I drove home, I thought about Bella. I contemplated again on whether I should tell Bella about Tanya. Again, I decided not to. She didn't need to worry about that. I pulled into the garage and entered the house. Bella wasn't in the kitchen so I assumed she was in her studio. I loved watching her paint. I hope she would do it on a weekend or something so I could sit and watch her for more than a few minutes. The way she moved her brush over the canvas and the look on her face as she concentrated on the image were both enchanting. The paintings themselves were beyond perfection. She was beyond perfection.

I hurried up the stairs to the end of the hall where her studio was. I opened the door, expecting to see her at her canvas and easel, finishing her painting. But the room was dark, and she wasn't there. I checked in the bedroom, then the library. She was no where to be found.

"Bella," I called.

No answer.

I looked in the garage again, I hadn't checked for her car, but now I saw that it wasn't there. Where was she? She was usually home by six o'clock. Oh God, what if something had happened to her? What if she had driven into a ditch? Oh my God, she could be in a ditch!

I rushed to the phone and dialed her number as fast as I could. I waited impatiently for it to ring. When she finally answered, I let out a gasp of relief.

"Bella, where are you?" I asked earnestly.

"I'm still at the library," she said. "Marian got sick today so I agreed to stay with Mrs. Peters so she wouldn't be the only one there. The library closes in about two hours so I should be home around eight thirty."

"Okay, love. Call me if you need anything. I'll have dinner waiting when you get home."

"No, that's okay. If you don't mind waiting I'll make dinner when I get home," she said.

"No," I told her. "I'm perfectly capable of feeding myself. I did it all through college and med school. I'll have dinner ready. Besides, no matter how much I love watching you cook, you need a break every once in a while."

"Okay," she said.

"I love you," I said.

"I love you too."

The way she said it sounded wrong. Automatic. Unnatural.

**AN: Review!**

**By the way, I finally took my thirty hours of driver's ed. Or at least the in class part. I still have to do behind the wheel but I'm done with the monotonous part. I'm sixteen and I should have taken the class freshman year, but I didn't because I always had stuff after school. So I pretty much sacrificed my entire Spring Break for the stupid thing, it's basically the same hours as I go to school, so I didn't really get a Spring Break. I swear, if they send me a letter telling me I failed the final, I will shoot someone.**

**-C**


	19. Chapter 19

**BPOV**

I spent most of the weekend painting, not really trying hard to be in Edward's presence. I made dinner for him every night, and thankfully, he didn't ask for sex. He did, however, lean against the doorframe of my studio and watch me paint for about an hour on Saturday. It would have been sweet if he wasn't such an asshole. Now it was just annoying. I tried my best to ignore him, and he think he noticed.

I worked at the library on Monday and Tuesday, and the little kids came back again on Wednesday. Seth insisted on sitting in my lap while I read to the rest of the class. He was so adorable. After that I was feeling very good when I got home. It was about five o'clock and I'd gone grocery shopping for the chicken breast and baked potatoes I was going to make tonight. I put away the groceries and went up to the bedroom to take off my shoes and jewelry. I noticed the light on the answering machine blinking, meaning there was a message. I had been expecting a call from Alice, so I pressed the button to play the message.

_"Edward, it's Tanya. The test was positive and I really need to talk to you. Call me back, please. I really need you right now."_

The message stopped and I sank down onto the bed, all the feeling gone from my limbs. I was completely numb all over. I was right. Tanya must have been the one who left the lipstick stain. And the test . . . _The test was positive. _What kind of test could she be talking about? And then it hit me.

Pregnancy.

A pregnancy test. He had gotten her pregnant. Fucking bastard! I had made excuses before. There were other possibilities, but I couldn't see any right now. I had hoped so much that I was mistaken. But there was no way now.

I felt tears leaking out of my eyes and I collapsed back onto the pillows, the sobs wracking my body.

I don't know how long I was there, but I later heard a door opening and closing and footsteps coming up the stairs. Edward rushed to the bed when he saw me crying.

"Bella," he gasped, circling his arms around me.

I pushed him away; I couldn't stand his touch right now.

"Bella, what's wrong?" he asked like he had no idea.

"Damnit, you bastard, you're asking me what's wrong? You're really asking? You should know, you asshole. It's your fault," I shouted, getting up and circling around the bed.

He looked broken. "Bella, what did I do, please tell me and I'll fix it. I promise."

"Yeah, have fun with that. It's too late now."

"Bella, what happened?"

I hit the button on the answering machine and it played Tanya's message. His face drained of blood as he realized what I'd heard.

"Bella, it's not what you think . . ." he started.

"Don't you _dare_ make excuses," I hissed. "You thought you could keep this from me? Like I wouldn't find out? What kind of idiot do you think I am?"

"Bella . . ."

"After all that shit you said about loving me . . . after going to all that trouble to get to know me before we got married, after getting us this beautiful house and giving me a whole room just to paint in . . . I thought you really loved me."

"I do, Bella."

"Yeah, and you show me that by cheating on me? By getting another woman pregnant?"

"What!" he shouted, looking a little angry at my accusation. "What the hell are you talking about, Bella?"

"She said the test was positive, what the hell else could she be talking about besides pregnancy? Who the hell is Tanya?"

"She's an old girlfriend of mine, and she's not having my baby."

"Edward what part of _the test was positive_ do you not understand?"

"She's not pregnant. It's impossible."

"Do I need to tell you the facts of life. Sex equals babies and condoms sometimes break. You're a doctor, you should know that."

"It's not possible because we haven't had sex in over five years and also because she can't have children."

"What are you talking about?"

"She has a chromosome disorder that caused her to be born without eggs. She can't have a baby naturally. She'd have to have a special surgery to do so. And we haven't been sleeping together. God, Bella, do you think that little of me?"

"What about the lipstick stain on the back of your collar. And the smell of perfume all over your shirt."

He looked away and cursed. "Damnit, Bella, I knew I should have told you about that." He gazed back at me. "She came to me at the clinic, telling me to check her for breast cancer. She tried to seduce me. I pushed her away and told her not to come again. But she did it again last week because she found a lump. I got her an appointment to have a biopsy and told her to call me when she got the results. Her mother died of breast cancer. If the test was positive that means she has it too."

I collapsed back onto the bed, burying my face in my hands. "Oh, God, Edward. I'm so sorry."

"Did you really think I was cheating on you, Bella?" he asked incredulously.

I nodded weakly. "I'm so sorry, Edward. I just . . . you came home with lipstick on your collar and then the message on the machine. I just thought. . . ."

"Bella, that was a week ago. Why didn't you say anything?"

I looked away. "Edward, you know that one of the rules of our marriage is that I'm not allowed to question you. You're allowed to do whatever you want. I thought you just weren't satisfied with me."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Bella, I could never not be satisfied with you. You are the most satisfying thing in the world. You're perfect in every way. I love you. I can't not. I would never and will never cheat on you. I promise." He sat next to me on the bed and circled his arms around me. "I'm so sorry, Bella. I should have told you about Tanya. I just didn't want to worry you."

I nodded into his chest.

"Bella, I want you to do something for me. Do you think you can?"

I looked up into his eyes and nodded again. I would do anything for him, and he knew it.

"I want you to forget the rules. Forget the church. I don't want you to ever think that I'm in any way superior to you. Because if one of us is better, it's definitely you. I want you to feel comfortable telling me about your life, and telling me that you have a problem with me. I want you to tell me if I do something wrong, so that way I can fix it. I want you to let me make you dinner without feeling that you should be serving me. I don't want you to ask if it's okay for you to go somewhere or get a job. If I want to have sex and you're not in the mood, I want you to be able to say no. You're not my slave, Bella, no matter what the church says. I want you to love me because you want to, not because you think you're supposed to."

I buried my face in his neck and kissed the underside of his jaw. "I'm so sorry, Edward."

"And I want you to stop saying you're sorry."

I smiled against his skin.

"Now, are you hungry, I'll make dinner."

"No," I said, getting up. "I was planning to make chicken and potatoes. I went to the grocery store and everything to get the ingredients."

"Can I watch you cook?" he asked, getting up as well.

"Why do you like watching me cook?" I asked.

"It's enchanting," he said. "The way you move. Especially when there's music. You sway your hips and dance a little. I love watching that."

I smiled and slipped my hand into his, leading him down to the kitchen. "Pick a station," I said, indicating the radio on the counter.

I started grilling the chicken as I swayed my hips to the music. He poured me some wine, which I sipped while he watched me. I put the potatoes in the oven and turned to see him staring at me.

"Like what you see?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah," he breathed. "You don't know how much I want to jump you right now."

"Well, you're going to have to wait until after dinner."

He pouted. "No fair."

"Hey, you just set the rules. Maybe you should have thought of that before."

He circled around the island and pressing me against the counter, grinding his erection into me. "Are you saying you're not in the mood," he whispered against my ear.

I moaned as he ground against me again. "Edward."

He withdrew immediately and went pack to his previous seat as if nothing had happened.

"That's just evil," I said resentfully.

He just flashed me that crooked grin and sipped his wine.

After dinner came a night fabulous make up sex ending with me completely exhausted after three mind-blowing orgasms.

The next morning we showered together, and I made breakfast while he got dressed. I was ecstatic to have things returning to normal, especially when it included Edward washing every inch of my body with meticulous care. I knew I didn't deserve him, and I never should have doubted him. I'd apologized so many times for doubting him that he'd made another rule that I wasn't allowed to apologize any more.

He left for work first and I went later because I didn't have to be at the library until ten thirty.

**EPOV**

When I got to work Lucy looked at me like I was crazy. "What are you doing here, Edward, it's your day off."

"What?" I asked.

She looked on her computer. "It says right here that today is your day off, and you have no appointments today."

"Are you serious!" I exclaimed, ecstatic.

She nodded.

"Okay, I'm going to go before you tell me this is a joke." I rushed out of there, and it wasn't until I was in my car that I thought about where I was going to go.

The first place I thought of was the library. Good, I would surprise Bella at the library, maybe afterward we could go get some lunch because I think she only had one group coming today.

I rushed off to the library and parked next to her Ferrari. When I got inside I heard her voice drifting quietly from a corner surrounded by windows. There were small children all around her including a little Native American boy sitting on her lap. As she read he glanced from the pictures of the book to her face with silent rapture.

I watched as she finished the book and the children went to take others off a cart. A couple of them gathered around her and a little girl with blonde pigtails handed her another book which she read in the same smooth and calm voice. I watched from a nearby bookshelf and listened to her beautiful voice, hoping she wouldn't notice me. I just wanted to watch her interact with the children, hoping that one day I could see her reading to our children like that.

When it was time for them to go the little boy who had stayed on her lap for the entire time tried to resist going, but Bella gently eased him off her lap and held his hand as they exited the library. I watched until they were out the glass doors and saw the little boy say something to her and she leaned down. He kissed her on the cheek and she ruffled his hair as one of his teachers took his hand and led him away.

I went to sit in her reading chair before she got back, and when she returned, she let out a gasp of pleasant surprise.

"What are you doing here, Edward?" she asked.

"Turns out I had a free day," I told her. "I decided to come see you. Is that okay?"

"Of course it is!" she exclaimed, rushing towards me and flinging her arms around my neck.

I smiled as she kissed my cheek, glad that she was no longer mad at me.

"Are we okay?" I asked. After last night I was pretty sure we were both forgiven for being so stupid, but I wanted to make sure.

"Absolutely," she said happily.


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: I AM SO SORRY!!!!!!! I know that after my little rant about people bugging me to update I said I'd have it in by like that weekend or something, and here I am like a month later with a not so great update. I swear, things are going to get a little more interesting than this, but this chapter is kind of like a transition. I'm going to keep going with Tanya's cancer and stuff, and Edward and Bella's "religion" will get in the way of a few things. I won't make anymore promises on when I'm going to update next because obviously, I can't keep them. Hopefully though, you won't have to wait another month for the next chapter. **

**BPOV**

Edward followed me home in his Volvo so I could drop off my car before we went to pick up Alice and Jasper at the airport. On the car ride over to Port Angeles, Edward held my hand, raising it to his lips every so often and kissing my knuckles. He kept his eyes on the road, but _I_ was staring at him for most of the time, going over every perfect feature of his face.

Alice called me as we pulled into a parking space to tell me that their flight had just gotten in. We checked the arrivals board to see what carousel their baggage would come in on and a few minutes later, I heard a high-pitched squeal that could only be Alice. I turned and instantly a streak of black and white hit me, knocking me back several paces.

"Hey, Alice," I said with a grin as she clung to me. "I'm happy to see you, too."

"Bella!" she exclaimed. "I'm so glad to see you! We're going to have so much fun!"

"Well, let's start by getting your bags," I said, letting go of her.

The carousel started to move, and Edward and Jasper started pulling off an assortment of pale pink suitcases. There were about six of them and only two black ones that I guessed belonged to Jasper.

Edward and Jasper were both laden with three bags each as Alice and I each took one. When we got out into the slight drizzle that had come to welcome our friends, Edward voiced his concern.

"Uh, guys, I don't think these are all going to fit in the Volvo," he said.

Everyone else laughed. "Don't worry, honey," I told him. "Alice is always prepared."

At that moment, a van pulled up in front of us and two guys hopped out, taking the eight bags from us and loading them into the back. Jasper thanked them and handed them a slip of paper with the address of their new house and directions to it.

They got back in and drove off, while Alice linked her arm through mine, and we led the way to the car.

Jasper and Edward got into the front seats while Alice and I got into the back. This not only allowed Jasper more leg room, since he was considerably bigger than Alice or I, but it was also easier for him to dictate the directions to their house to Edward as he drove.

Alice had been right, their house was very near Edward's and mine. We pulled up in front of the house to see the van already waiting outside. Edward and Jasper helped the men carry the eight bags into the house, while Alice showed me around. She told me that she and Esme had talked for hours about every detail of the decoration of the place, and Esme had sent her almost daily updates complete with photos on the house's progress. Once the movers were gone, Alice and I brought drinks and snacks for the boys, who were lounging in the living room while we caught up in the kitchen.

"Now you have to tell me about your honeymoon," Alice said triumphantly.

I groaned. I had promised her that I would when she got here. I told her about Maui and how great Edward had been about taking it slow with me. Or trying to, because I hadn't really let him. She awed at how sweet he had been setting up my studio, and how great he had been since we had gotten back.

I didn't tell her about last week and the doubts I'd had about him and the whole Tanya fiasco. I was too embarrassed really. I still couldn't believe I had been so stupid.

Around five o'clock, the boys came into the kitchen, and Edward wrapped his arm around my waist, kissing my temple sweetly before telling me that we should probably get going because he still had some work to do before tomorrow. I said goodbye to Alice and Jasper, and Alice promised she would call me soon and maybe we could have lunch with Esme or something.

We were in the car on the ride home, when Edward spoke.

"You have very loyal friends, Bella," he said.

I smiled. "I do. But what makes you say so?"

"While you and Alice were in the kitchen, Jasper made a point to threaten me that if I ever hurt you, he would make my death look like an extremely painful accident."

I smiled inwardly. "Jasper has always had a way with words," I said with a hint of sarcasm. "But you're right, he his very protective of me, mostly because whenever I get hurt, it hurts Alice as well, and he can't stand that."

**EPOV**

Jasper threatening me had actually made me like him more. It had showed that he really cared for Bella, and I could get along with anyone like that.

When we got home, I went up to my office to make a few phone calls. I called Dr. Levi, the cancer specialist, and set up an appointment with him tomorrow, and then I called Tanya and told her that we would meet with the oncologist. Once that was done, I took my laptop down to the library where I was going to work on my next paper for the medical journal that the hospital in Seattle published.

Bella was already in the library, reading a Jane Austen novel. Well, rereading it looked like. The binding on that book was so worn, it looked like it was about to fall apart. Hmm, there was that store in Chicago that sold a lot of first editions. Maybe I could get her a new one next time I was there.

I sat down in one of the comfortable leather armchairs after pulling several books off the shelves and stacking them on the coffee table in front of me. I was about to start when Bella caught my eye. She was spread out on the couch in a pair of sweatpants an one of my t-shirts, and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why I found her so incredibly sexy in the simple clothing. I watched, mesmerized for minute or two as she traced the edge of the page she was reading with her slim fingers and her tongue darted out to lick her index finger before turning the page.

I gave my head a little shake to try and snap out of it. It hardly worked.

**BPOV**

I was lying on the couch in the library while Edward sat in one of the chairs with his computer on his lap, typing quickly. He leaned over and picked up a book resting on the coffee table and skimmed over the page, looking for something. He found it and lay the book on the armrest, glancing at it as he typed.

He was so focused on his work, and the sad thing is, I found it really sexy. His brow furrowed as he worked through a harder sentence. He glanced up over the screen, and saw me staring at him.

"What are you looking at?" he asked with a small smile.

"Do you have any idea how sexy you look all concentrated and serious."

He grinned wider. "You think I'm sexy writing my next medical paper?"

"Totally."

He smiled and put the laptop on the table. "What about it do you think is sexy?"

I smiled happily. "The way your brow furrows as you concentrate on a sentence, the way your hands move over the keyboard . . . the way you fingers skim over the pages as you look for the right place. It's all kind of hot."

Edward stood up and came over to the couch, laying his body on top of mine while supporting his weight on his hands. He dipped his head down, kissing my neck and nipping at my earlobe.

I moaned and arched into him.

"You like that, love? You think it's sexy?"

I moaned again. "Yes," I gasped.

"What about this, Bella?" He made his way farther down my body and sucked by nipple through my shirt.

"Oh, Edward!" Then an idea came to my mind. I put my hands on either side of his head and lifted it from my chest.

"What is it, love?" he asked.

"Will you play the piano for me?"

A wide grin split his perfect face. "Of course."

He got off me and helped me up, leading me out of the library and into the living room to where the piano was surrounded by giant bay windows.

Edward put his hands on my hips and lifted me onto the piano. "Lay back," he told me softly, and I did so. He sat down on the bench and looked up at me. My head was turned sideways, staring at him, one of my legs was propped up, the other hanging over the edge of the piano. My hands were both resting on my stomach, my right index finger making circles around my exposed belly button as he started to play.

The tune started quick and it wasn't recognizable as any piece of music I had ever heard. Watching Edward concentrate on the music and seeing his fingers dance over the keys was even better than him writing. He glanced up at me and the music got slower, more romantic. The notes were sweet and he poured feeling into every one, never taking his eyes off of me. His emerald eyes bore into mine, and the music he was making was more beautiful than anything I had ever heard.

"Take off your shirt," he whispered softly.

I obeyed happily, reaching for the hem of my t-shirt peeling it slowly off my body and tossing it into a corner.

"Now the pants," he murmured.

I slipped my hands in the waistband of my sweats, easing them down and kicking them off.

"Better," he said happily.

But I didn't stop there. I sat up on the piano, swinging my legs over the front, spreading them so my feet rested on either side of the keys. I reached behind myself, unhooking my bra and sliding it slowly off my arms, tossing it away as well. He stopped playing and reached for my breasts but I shook my head.

"Keep going," I said.

Edward continued to play, but the notes became more frantic as I lifted my hands to my breasts, kneading at the flesh and playing with my nipples. I arched into my palms, my head falling backwards as I groaned softly.

I could see his erection straining against his pants as he tried to continue concentrating on the notes, but he was slipping up, missing notes as I ran my hands down my stomach towards my core. I dipped my fingers into my slit, collecting some of the juices there and brought it back up to my lips, licking them slowly off.

"That's it," he said fiercely. He stopped playing and circled around the piano at lightning speed. He pulled me over and lay me on the top of the piano, yanking my panties off roughly. He pulled off his sweats while I whipped his t-shirt off him.

Edward leaned down, kissing me hard, pulling me closer to the edge of the piano before plunging into me. If I had been able to form a coherent thought I would have been afraid that the piano might break as he stroked in and out of me. But at the moment, I really didn't care.

I fell backwards in ecstasy and he leaned forwards, taking my nipple into his mouth and sucking lightly. "Oh God, Edward!" I screamed.

His hand went to my clit, rubbing it in small circles as I arched upward, thrusting my breasts into his face. He kissed and nipped at them as I felt myself reaching the edge.

"Oh God, Edward, I'm going to . . ."

With one last thrust, I felt myself fall over the edge, and he was falling with me as we came simultaneously.

He collapsed on top of me, his face buried in my neck, and I felt him smile, satisfied.

"I'll play for you again whenever you want if this is the reward I get," he muttered against my skin.

"Oh, I have a few more rewards for you, but you have to go upstairs."

He raised his head from my shoulder and stared at me, surprised. Yeah, I was also kind of astonished by my boldness.

Edward helped me off the piano, which, thankfully, had not endured any bodily harm, and he whisked me up into his arms, practically running up the stairs with me and throwing me into our bed.


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: A Christmas Special for all of you. Happy Holidays to you, wherever you are. **

**EPOV**

"So, Ms. Delani, I've looked at the results of your test, and it looks like we're going to have to go through surgery. I've made an appointment for next week," Dr. Levi said.

"How bad is it?"

"The tumor is cancerous, but it can be removed. I've scheduled the surgery for next Wednesday. Do you think you can make that?"

Tanya nodded.

"Eleven o'clock, Wednesday morning," Dr. Levi said. He handed her a packet of forms and information. "Read over this and bring back the forms the day of the surgery."

She nodded, taking the paper from him.

"Now, I've spoken to Dr. Cullen about your mother's illness. And we've both agreed that since the timing is quite different between you and her, you have a better chance at overcoming this."

I looked over at Tanya. She seemed so dejected and scared.

Dr. Levi bid us goodbye, and Tanya and I left the office.

"I'll come see you when the operation's over, okay?" I told her.

She nodded weakly.

"Edward, am I going to die?"

"Eventually," I said.

"I mean soon," she said, not appreciating my sarcasm at this difficult time.

"Sorry. I don't know. But the odds are in your favor. We caught this early on, and as Dr. Levi said, it can be removed, which gives you a good chance of a full recovery."

"Thank you, Edward, for being here for me even after what I did. I know it doesn't change anything, but I'm really sorry for what I did, and if I could take it back, I would."

"Thanks, Tanya," I said.

* * *

When I got home, Bella was already making dinner.

I kissed her on the cheek on my way to the wine cabinet. I poured us each a glass and handed one to her.

"Long day?" she asked, commenting on my b-line for the booze.

I leaned against the counter, sipping my wine. "I met with Dr. Levi and Tanya today." Bella stiffened slightly at the mention of Tanya. I continued as if I hadn't noticed. "She's just so afraid of this disease. You know her mom died from it; she's just worried that she'll go the same way."

"Well, worrying won't make it any better. She should just enjoy life as much as she can."

I took another sip of wine.

"You know, she apologized."

Bella put the lid on the pot. "For what?"

"Cheating on me and trying to seduce me."

"Do you think she's actually sorry?"

I thought for a minute. "I think so." I put my glass down and walked over to her, wrapping my arms around her waist and kissing her neck. "I wouldn't matter either way. My heart only belongs to one person."

She smiled a little and allowed me to kiss her again.

When we finally broke apart, she went back to making dinner.

"Your mom called today," she said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. She invited us to your parents' annual Christmas party next Thursday."

"I completely forgot about that."

"Speaking of Christmas, what do you want?" she asked.

"Nothing," I said honestly. "I have everything I could possibly want. A nice house, a good car, plenty of material goods, loving family and friends . . . and the best wife I could ever imagine." I leaned down and kissed her softly.

She smiled in spite of herself. "You're not going to make this easy, are you?" she asked.

"Love, I am completely content with everything I have. All I want for Christmas is you."

"You have me."

"Then there's nothing else, is there?"

**BPOV**

Alice insisted on a shopping trip to get dresses for the Christmas Eve party. After six hours of torture, trying on one dress after another, Alice had found a black satin evening gown with a white satin ribbon around the waist that accentuated her small figure, but I still hadn't found anything yet.

"Come on, Bella," Alice said, pulling me along. "There's just one more store."

"Alice, what makes you think this will be any different? Look, I already have an evening gown, I'll just wear . . ."

"No you will not. You need a new dress for this event. You'll be rubbing elbows with all the wealthy socialites in Washington state. I will not let you wear something that you've already worn."

I rolled my eyes as we entered the dress department. Soon Alice had an armful of dresses and was shoving me into a fitting room. There seemed to be something wrong with each one I tried on. The first was too short, the second was too long, the third was too small in the chest, the fourth was too big in the waist. I was about to put my foot down when Alice forced me back into the cubicle to try on the last dress.

It was a floor-length pale blue chiffon dress with satin lining and practically no back. But that wasn't the worst part. There was a slit that went almost all the way to my hip.

"Alice," I said as I walked out of the dressing room, "I'm not wearing this. I . . ." But I stopped. Because Alice was staring at me with her jaw on the ground.

"Alice, this is way too revealing."

"Shut up, Bella, and look at yourself."

I turned to look at the three paneled mirror Alice was sitting next to.

I did have to admit that I looked pretty good, but that didn't stop the fact that it still had no back and showed almost my entire right leg.

"Alice, I can't wear this!"

"Bella, I will buy this for you and force you into it the day of the party. You're wearing this dress. It's sexy but not slutty. Edward will love it."

I knew there was no use arguing. "Fine. Don't let me see the price when I buy it."

We found shoes and a wrap to match the dress, and I almost felt the dent being made in my bank account.

**EPOV**

The Christmas party was on Thursday night. Tanya had her operation on Wednesday. Dr. Levi told me that they had gotten the whole tumor out but that she had to spend the next five days in the hospital for observation. That meant she would be there on Christmas. I felt kind of bad about it and wished there was something I could do for her. But right now I had a party to attend, I thought as I fiddled with my bow tie.

"Damn it," I cursed under my breath. I could never tie this stupid thing right.

"Need help?" asked a voice from the bathroom doorway.

I turned to see Bella in the dim light of our room looking more beautiful than ever. I think I might have started drooling.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer," she said as she walked over to me and fixed my tie.

"A picture could never capture half of your beauty," I said sincerely.

She gave me a small half smile as she smoothed down my collar. "We better go. We'll be late."

I quickly put my shoes on and Bella grabbed her bag and her wrap, and together, we headed down to the Ashton Martin.

The party was gorgeous as usual. My mother never spared any expense when decorating for these parties.

Most of the doctors I worked with were there. I was surprised when Bella greeted an older woman who I found out later was Dr. Peters' wife and worked at the library with Bella.

To my intense surprise, Bella was extremely well practiced at being social. She smiled and laughed and was exceedingly charming. She didn't seem like the social type, and when I asked her about it later, she told me in a hushed whisper that her mother had drilled her in how to be the perfect guest or hostess at parties in hope that she would one day have such an event to show off her skills at. I had to say that her mother had done a pretty good job. Everyone who met her was instantly drawn to her, though that might have just been because she was Bella, and (for the men at least) the fact that her dress had no back and a slit very far up her leg.

I was about ready to slaughter James Smith as he looked her up and down as if she was something to eat. There was a reason he wasn't married yet, because he treated women like playthings rather than actual people, as a great number of new nurses found out straight away.

The whole night I was barely able to comprehend what people were asking me, let alone answer them because I was constantly staring at Bella and wondering if a halo was going to appear over her head. She looked like an angel.

We met up with Alice and Jasper and later with Emmett and Rosalie. Bella hadn't spent much time with Emmett or Rosalie, but I could tell Emmett was starting to like her more than he did me, and Rosalie, who was normally a very frigid and cold person, warmed up to Bella straight away.

When the night was over and we were finally home again, Bella led me into the bedroom and sat me down on the bed.

"Wait here," she said, making her way towards the walk in closet. "I thought you might want to unwrap your Christmas present early."

I took off my shoes, socks, jacket and tie while I was waiting for her, and she emerged a few minutes later in a red babydoll with faux fur trim on the bottom hem and at the top where it barely covered her breasts, matching thong and Santa hat.

My jaw hit the floor.

"Merry Christmas," she said seductively.

I would never be able to look at Santa the same way again.

"You said that all you wanted for Christmas was me, but since you already have that, I decided to wrap up your present in something pretty. You like it?"

My mouth opened and closed a few times, no words coming out as I felt a painful boner growing in my pants.

She laughed softly and stalked over to me, straddling my lap. "What's the matter, Edward?" she asked, pushing her plump breasts against my chest. "Don't you like your present?" She ground herself slowly on my lap, a little moan escaping her lips.

"Love, if I die tonight, please tell my family I went happily."

She smiled.

I ran my hands over her wonderful curves, accentuated so much by the babydoll. "I think I've changed my mind about what I want for Christmas," I said.

Her smile faltered slightly.

"I want you to promise me that this won't be the last time you dress up for me like this."

She cocked an eyebrow.

"I mean it, Bella. You have no idea how sexy you look right now." All while I was speaking, I was running my hands up and down her body, pinching her nipples through the fabric and feeling the wetness seep through her panties as I toyed with her body.

"Well, I might have a few more outfits somewhere . . . maybe I'll dig them out sometime---"

But she didn't get to finish, because at the mention of more of Bella looking sexy as hell in different types of lingerie, I was on top of her, kissing every inch of her beautiful body as I tried to keep myself from coming at the very sight of her.

I ripped that poor excuse for underwear from her, shoving my fingers into her hot, wet pussy. She groaned loudly, and suddenly she was on top of me.

"Uh, uh, she said, making quick work of my clothes until I was naked underneath her. "I'm here to deliver _your_ Christmas present," she said, stroking my cock slowly.

I tipped my head back and arched, trying to make her go faster until I felt the sweet sensation of her mouth around me. I didn't dare look down at her because I knew if I did, I would come immediately.

"Oh . . . God . . . Bella. Bella, please. Please. I want to be inside you now."

Suddenly her mouth was gone and she was straddling over me, babydoll and Santa hat still on as she impaled herself on me.

She rode me fast and hard, moaning and fondling her breasts. I reached down and rubbed her clit as she worked herself on me faster and faster until . . .

We both screamed out our simultaneous orgasm, and she continued to move on top of me, prolonging the sensation until she finally collapsed on my chest, breathing heavily.

"Best Christmas ever," I said as I held her to me, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Christmas morning I woke up with Bella snuggled into my side. Her hat had fallen off during the night, but her babydoll was still in place. I leaned over and kissed her cheek, absentmindedly stroking her side. I waited as she stirred, her beautiful eyes opening. She smiled at me.

"Merry Christmas," she whispered.

"Merry Christmas, love."

She looked down at my hand trailing up and down her side. "You know, you didn't fully unwrap your present last night," she said seductively.

The babydoll was instantly ripped from her body and she was writhing under me as I ravaged her.

After several more rounds, we finally got up and got ready to have Alice and Jasper over this afternoon.

I cleaned as Bella cooked and around one o'clock she poked her head into the living room where I was vacuming.

"Honey, I just have a small errand to run," she said. I noticed a picnic basket on her arm and wondered what she was doing but didn't ask. "I'll be back in an hour or so."

"Be safe, love," I told her as she headed for the garage.

**BPOV**

I arrived at the hospital twenty minutes after I left the house. The place was very quite, I guess there weren't a lot of people here on Christmas.

"Hello, I'm looking for Tanya Delani," I said to the girl behind the desk.

She looked at her computer. "Room 103." She pointed down the hallway. "Are you a friend or family?"

"Friend," I said automatically.

"It's so nice of you to come visit her on Christmas."

"Thank you, and Merry Christmas," I said to the girl as I headed towards Tanya's room.

I knocked on the door and heard permission to enter from within. I opened the door to find a beautiful woman, about my age. Blonde, slightly tanned, clear blue eyes and perfect features. I suddenly felt very inadequate but squared by shoulders and walked in the room.

Tanya was looking at me curiously, obviously we had never met, and she was probably wondering why a strange woman was in her room.

"You're not a nurse."

"No," I said, setting the basket down on one of the vinyl chairs and taking my coat off. "I'm Bella Cullen."

"Did Edward send you here?" she asked doubtfully.

"No, he doesn't know I'm here."

"Oh." She paused. "So are you here to berate me for trying to steal your man?"

I shook my head. "I actually brought you some stuff."

Tanya looked even more surprised.

"But if you would prefer to be berated, I'm sure I could manage that?"

"Why are you here?"

"Edward mentioned that you had your surgery on Wednesday and that you had to stay in the hospital over Christmas. I was at the Cullens' annual Christmas party last night and I heard some men talking about how your father had been visiting your family in Alaska and how he got snowed in so he couldn't get back to Washington to see you. I thought you might need a friend."

"I'm your husband's ex-girlfriend."

"I know."

"I cheated on him then tried to seduce him back to me just after he married you."

"I know."

"And you came to visit me on Christmas to spend time with me and not kill me?"

"That's right."

"What, are you applying for sainthood or something?" she asked in disbelief.

I frowned.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that to sound rude. It's just, not many women would come visit their husband's ex whom they've never met in the hospital on Christmas day."

"That's what makes me different from most women. So do you want to see what I brought you?"

She gaped at me, but I tried to ignore it as I set the basket down next to her and pulled the rolling table thing at the end of her bed forward.

I pulled out several items. "I've got Christmas cookies, chocolates, some hot cocoa, some turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce,---which isn't much but it's probably preferable to hospital food---good-smelling soap,---probably better than the crap they have here---and some scented candles to brighten this place up. That's one thing I hate about hospitals, they're always so bland and plain that you feel like there's no hope for you or anyone else."

She was looking at me like I wasn't real.

"Okay, what?" I asked, my hands on my hips.

"You are an angel, aren't you? God sent you down from heaven for some reason to make this Christmas better than any I've ever had."

"How is this Christmas better than any you've ever had? You're in a hospital."

"Bella, I've never had anyone show me this kind of unconditional generosity. I can see why Edward loves you. But why are you here. This is your first Christmas with your husband."

"First of all, Edward said that you apologized for what you did. And while I don't know you well enough to know when you're telling the truth, I'm sure he does. And he thinks you're being sincere. And second of all, no one should be alone on Christmas."

She smiled. A genuine, happy smile. "Will you share this with me?" she asked.

So we sat there for almost an hour, talking and eating. I set the candles up around her bed, on all the little tables and stuff. Tanya, like Esme, had very funny stories to tell about Edward while he was in school. We laughed and talked about all kinds of things. She was very easy to talk to, surprisingly. One wouldn't usually get along this well with a woman who had attempted to steal their spouse, but Tanya didn't seem to have any ulterior motive.

When it was about time for me to head back home before Edward got suspicious, Tanya said, "You know, Bella. I was an idiot. I was too blind to see that Edward was probably the best man I would ever have. But after what I did, I know that I don't deserve him. I'm actually glad that he married you rather than one of those other girls who goes to your church. I was always afraid I'd lose him to one of them, that his parents wouldn't let him marry someone who didn't belong to the church. But since he did, I'm glad it was you. You deserve him, and, while I'm not sure that there is anyone in this world who deserves you, he is probably one of the best ones out there."

"Thank you, Tanya." I grabbed my coat and purse and was just about to leave when I remembered something. "Do you have any plans for new years?" I asked.

"I don't think so," she said. "Why."

"Well, Edward and I were going to have a little new year's party. Edward's parents and his brother and sister-in-law, and my friends Alice and Jasper are all coming. You should come as well."

"I don't want to be the odd person out in a house full of happy couples."

"Oh, come on. You can't spend new years alone. Just come. I promise you won't be the odd one out."

"If it'll make you happy, then fine. But I don't know how Edward will feel about it."

"I don't care what Edward thinks. He'll live." I wrote down the time, date, and address of the party. "Seven o'clock new years eve. Here's the address. Just causal. We'll have dinner and everything."

She took the slip of paper from me. "Thank you, Bella. You really are a saint. I'll bring some champagne, okay."

I smiled and nodded.

"Merry Christmas, Tanya."

"Merry Christmas, Bella," she said with a smile.

**AN: Unexpected, right? Review and tell me what you think. Happy Holidays.**


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: I'm back. I'm sorry this chapter doesn't have much in the way of conflict, but it'll get better soon. Hopefully.**

**I'm sorry I've been away so long and I'm sorry that this chapter couldn't be more stupendous, but I was eager to get it out as it does go along with the date. **

**Hope you enjoy!**

**EPOV**

Bella came home about two hours after she left, no longer carrying the basket. I didn't ask where she'd been. I trusted that it was important enough for her to leave for two hours on Christmas Day.

Alice and Jasper came over around four, Jasper bearing a load of presents that I was pretty sure he didn't take much part in buying. We had an early dinner and then sat around the lighted tree to open gifts.

Bella, who had bought the presents because I didn't know Alice or Jasper as well as she did, had gotten Alice a pair of overpriced designer shoes that she had apparently wanted forever, as evidenced by the way she practically tackled Bella when she opened them, and Jasper a new silk tie to wear at work. She had also gotten the both of them several essential appliances and new house-warming gifts of sorts like a set of Egyptian Cotton sheets, a coffeemaker, and a waffle iron.

Alice handed us our presents one at a time. The first thing was an original Alice Brandon designed formal dress for the next occasion Bella might need it, the next was matching shoes, and the last was something that Alice told her to open later when we were alone which made me sure that it was something sex-related. Only Alice would give sexy Christmas presents.

I was surprised when she handed me several boxes as well, again, because we didn't know each other that well. The first was a beautiful silk tie, the next was a pair of really nice silver cufflinks set with onyx, and the last was, like Bella's, something I was instructed to open when we were alone.

Bella and Alice went into the kitchen to get coffee and dessert while Jasper and I cleaned up the wrapping paper we'd all strewn around the living room.

"So did Bella get you anything for Christmas?" he asked as we stuffed the paper into a trash bag. Bella told me to save the bows and bags as they could be reused.

My mouth stretched into a stupid grin. "Let's just say that Santa came to visit last night with all kinds of goodies."

"I got a similar visit from an elf."

"I love Christmas."

We exchanged cocky smiles just as Bella and Alice returned with cake and coffee.

That night, Bella and I opened our "special" presents.

I would love Alice forever.

In Bella's package was a new set of lingerie, black, and a feather teaser. In mine was a single pair of handcuffs. She looked shocked but not altogether surprised to see what the packages contained, which made me think that she and Alice must have been plotting this for a while.

Bella smiled evilly at me, stepping forward and taking the handcuffs from me, backing me onto the bed. She slowly unbuttoned my shirt and pushed it off my shoulders, then shoving me gently so I lay back on the bed. She handcuffed me to the metal bed frame and gave me a wicked smile, walking towards the bathroom, picking up her present as she went. I heard the door close and dropped my head back onto the pillow.

It seemed like forever before she came out again, but one might argue that it was worth it. I felt little Eddie wake up instantly in my pants when I saw her. She stalked towards me in the black corset, matching thong, garter belt, stockings and fuck-me heels. Her eyes were smoky and her beautiful hair fell in waves around her face. She was twirling the feather teaser in her hand, like an interrogator might wield a weapon of torture, which I was pretty sure she was going to turn the thing into.

She finally reached the bed and straddled me. She sat there for a moment, considering me, making me feel like she was reading my every thought and emotion. She slowly reached the feather teaser up to my left wrist where it was cuffed to the bed, trailing it down the inside of my arm, across my collarbone and up my other arm. She took time trailing the instrument of torture over every inch of my body until each one of my nerves was screaming and I was resolved to an aching, shuddering mess.

She then put the teaser on the bedside table and repeated the process with the tips of her fingers.

"Bella, please . . ."

"No. You don't give your input unless I ask for it," she said sternly.

I was taken aback. I had never seen this side of Bella before. I liked it.

She kissed her way down my neck and chest. When she got to the waistband of my pants, she took her good sweet time undoing them and pulling them and my underwear down my legs.

She picked up the feather teaser again and ran it around the part of my cock that wasn't oozing precum. Her mouth descended on my cock and I bucked my hips up into her face. She slapped my hip lightly, admonishing me. "Stay still," she commanded.

She sucked me as one of her hands operated the feather tickler against my balls. It was the most unusual sensation I'd ever felt, but it was so good.

She teased me for what seemed like hours; every time I got close, she would withdraw and I would cry out, earning a slap.

Finally after what seemed like days, she removed her thong, drew herself up my body and straddled over my face. "Lick me," she commanded.

I eagerly lifted my head to lick her beautiful, sweet, dripping pussy. I was rewarded by a moan from the goddess above me, and I redoubled my efforts in an attempt to make her feel as much pleasure as I possibly could.

"Enough," she commanded after a while. She moved back down my body until she was hovering over my aching cock.

"Bella," I begged. I couldn't help myself. I felt like I was about to explode with anticipation. I just wanted to touch her. "Please."

"Please what?"

"Please unlock the cuffs. I have to touch you. _Please_."

"I don't think I will," Bella said evilly. "You need to learn that patience is a virtue. And virtuous people get rewarded."

I felt my hands clench and unclench around the bars of our bed as she sunk herself slowly onto my rock-hard erection.

I let out a long, uncontrollable groan. "Belllllaaaa."

She gave me an admonishing whack on the thigh. "Did I tell you to speak?" she asked harshly.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. I had to say, despite the extremely painful teasing, I liked the kind of character Bella was playing.

She started to pump herself up and down on me, all the while my fingers wrapped and unwrapped around the bars of our bed frame, aching to hold her, and my lips pressed together, trying to hold in the pleas to unlock the cuffs.

It took everything I could not to come as soon as she descended on my cock. She looked so sexy as she rode me slowly, little moans escaping her lips. I wanted more than anything at that moment to reach out and touch her. To run my hands over those splendid curves, to guide her as she pushed herself up and down, to flip her over and plow into her. I let out a loud moan at the thought. But the stupid handcuffs were keeping me from doing that. I was sure I'd be able to break the chain holding them together if I really wanted to. They weren't the most well-made things ever, obviously not meant for actually detaining prisoners. But, in hindsight, I'm glad that I didn't because I probably would have damaged the bed as well as my wrists, and that would not be a fun thing to explain to people. I tried to focus my mind on anything else to keep myself from shooting my load into her.

"Edward," she gasped, speeding up. "Edward, I'm about to come. Come with me, please, Edward!" She started to shudder, and I could feel her walls clenching around my cock. I stopped holding back and took one look at her face in the epitome of pleasure, and I came too, more violently than I ever had before.

Bella collapsed on my chest, my dick still inside her.

"Best sex ever," I said with a sigh.

She made a kind of noise of affirmation, still breathing hard.

I don't know how long we lay there, but after a while, once the euphoria had wound down, the pain of the cuffs around my wrists started to make itself more pronounced. I realized that, apart from the fervent yanking I'd done while we were still going, I must have been unconsciously pulling at them, trying to wrap my arms around her as she lay on me.

"Uh, Bella," I said.

"Mmmm," she murmured.

"Could you unlock me?" I asked.

"Oh, of course," she said, jumping up and looking on the dresser for the keys to the cuffs.

"Edward," she said slowly, turning around.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know where the keys are?"

"No, I thought you had them."

"Uh-oh."

My head shot up from the pillow it was resting on. "Uh-oh? What do you mean uh-oh. No uh-oh. You lost them!" Oh, god. I was so screwed. How was I going to get out of this? I had tools that would cut this chain in the garage, but what about the cuffs? I wasn't about to walk into the emergency room with these around my wrists. I'd never be able to look any of my colleagues in the eye again. I think I might have even started to hyperventilate before Bella evidently decided to take mercy on me and lift a set of keys out from behind one of the little boxes that rested on the dresser. She had a huge grin on her face.

"That's not funny," I said sourly as she crossed the room and unlocked one of the cuffs.

"It was very funny," she told me as I sat up and held out the other wrist. "You looked like a deer caught in the headlights. The only reason I didn't draw it out any longer is because it looked like you were about to have a heart attack." The other cuff clicked open.

I immediately trapped her wrists and flipped he over. "Well next time we'll put you in the cuffs then," I whispered menacingly in her ear. "And we'll see how amused you are when I conveniently forget where the key is." I kissed her once, fiercely on the lips. "Happy Christmas, love."

"Happy Christmas."

** BPOV**

It was New Years Eve. And Edward and I were getting ready for the party we were throwing. We were having eleven people over in addition to myself and Edward. Meaning thirteen people to feed. I was busy preparing a Christmas feast while Edward cleaned the house. Edward's parents arrived earlier than expected, which was good because Esme was very helpful in the kitchen and Carlisle was able to engage Edward which stopped him from continuing to steal cookies from the trays on the counter.

My parents were next, and, surprisingly, my mother didn't scold me for letting my guests help but put on an apron and assisted as well.

Alice and Jasper were next followed by Emmett and Rosalie.

By the time the doorbell rang again everything was out of the oven, except for the turkey and I had shooed everyone out of the kitchen, where they had congregated, into the living room.

I went to open the door. The first thing that happened was something small and loud hit me in the legs as two little arms wrapped around my waist.

"Miss Bella, Miss Bella," squealed a voice.

I scooped Seth up and held him as I smiled up at his father.

Seth had dragged his father to the library one day after school to meet "the pretty lady who read to them." Jacob and I had hit it off, and he had returned with Seth several times after that. When I asked Marian if she had ever seen him before, she told me he was widowed and lived on the Quileute reservation with his two sons and owned a local mechanic shop. Just before Christmas, I found out he didn't have any plans for New Years and I invited him and his family to spend it with us.

"Sorry," he said as he stepped through the door I held open for him. "I would have left him with a sitter. But they're damned hard to find on New Years Eve, and when he heard I was coming to see you, he begged me until I gave in."

I smiled as I looked at Seth, who nodded in affirmation of his father's words.

"Is Sam not with you?" I asked, referring to Jacob's oldest son.

"No, he's got a party with his friends on the rez, and in his words 'Why would I want to stay up 'til midnight with a bunch of boring old people when I could be out partying with my friends?'"

I laughed and closed the door, leading Jacob farther into the room in order to introduce him to the rest.

It was nearly eight o'clock when the doorbell rang for the last time that night.

Edward's eyebrows furrowed as he followed me to answer it. I opened the door, and there stood the last guest of the evening.

"Tanya?" Edward said quietly, as if he didn't want to draw attention from any of our guests. "What are you doing here?"

I backhanded his chest and glared at him. "Where are your manners, Edward. I invited her."

"You . . . what?" He looked so confused.

"Stop looking at her like she's a giraffe and be a gentleman and take her coat," I told him.

I stepped out of the way to allow her to come inside as she shed her coat and handed it to Edward with a guilty look on her face. She then handed me a bottle of champagne.

"Indecisive?" I whispered as Edward turned to put her coat away in the closet.

"I must have turned around at least three times on my way here," she said. "I'm sorry for being late."

"No, that's fine. Now you don't have to do the awkward small talk thing. We're about to have dinner."

I led her farther into the living room as I had done with Jacob and introduced her as an old friend of Edward's. I then gave her a small push towards Jacob and scooped Seth into my arms, asking him if he wanted to help me set the table, thus allowing Jacob and Tanya time to talk without a small child present.

Dinner was quite enjoyable. I was glad to see Jacob and Tanya deep in conversation with each other for a good portion of it. One of the reasons I had invited Jacob even though I didn't know him as well as I usually know a person before inviting them to my house is so Tanya would have someone to talk to and she wouldn't feel like the odd one out, especially because most of the people here knew at least something about the drama that went on between her and Edward.

Once dinner was over, Edward and Jasper disappeared outside for a couple of minutes while Alice, Rosalie and I cleared the table. They returned with boxes of what looked like fireworks, sparklers and tiny colored smoke bombs.

We took them outside and took turns setting them off. The person who seemed to enjoy them the most was Seth, who delighted in the popping and explosions, though Emmett came in a close second.

I kissed Edward on the cheek and whispered a thank you in his ear as Seth jumped up and down, watching a particularly big one go off.

He turned his head and smiled at me. "What was that for?" he asked.

"Everything."

After we had set off all the fireworks, the girls and Seth went inside while the guys looked for the charred remnants of the mild explosives.

I set out dessert and put on a pot of coffee. When the men came back in we had dessert, and by the time we were done it was nearly 10:45, and Seth was slumped over the table. I led Jacob up to our bedroom and helped him lay Seth down on the bed, getting some blankets out of the linen closet to cover him with so he could sleep peacefully up there without being disturbed by our conversation downstairs.

At five till midnight we uncorked the champagne Tanya had brought and poured everyone a glass as we watched the ball drop on the flat screen above the fireplace.

We all counted down and cheered when it hit the bottom, and Edward looped an arm around my waist, kissing me full on the lips, a huge smile on his face. I smiled back, feeling elated. At that moment I was happier than I'd ever been before, surrounded by the people I love, without any problems lingering on the horizon. I knew the feeling wouldn't last, but for now, it was perfect.

Once we had broken apart, I saw that all the other couples in the room had engaged in a similar act as we had, including Jacob and Tanya, who was flushed and smiling, a gleaming contrast to how she had been when I'd seen her in the hospital.

Some half hour later Jacob said he should probably get Seth home and he went to collect him from our room while the rest of our friends and family said similar things about needing to get home before the crazy people started to inhabit the roads.

We said our goodbyes and once we had waved the last car down the driveway, Edward and I retreated back into the house.

"Is that what you were doing on Christmas?" he asked. "Visiting her in the hospital?"

I nodded. "Are you mad at me?"

"Of course not," he said, shaking his head. "I mean, I wish you would have told me she was coming so I wouldn't look like a complete ass when she showed up, but I'm not mad at you for inviting her."

"I was afraid you'd object to her coming. And I'd already invited her," I explained.

"Bella, you don't have to ask my permission to invite people to your parties. If you do the cooking, I'm not going to complain. I can see why you might think I object, but I trust you had a good reason for doing it."

"Well, I wasn't under the impression that she has many friends, let alone many female ones. And with her father stuck in Alaska, I didn't want her to be alone."

"You're a better person than people give you credit for, Bella Cullen," he said, smiling as he leaned down to kiss me.

**AN: No promises on when I'll update again. You should know by now that I'm not entirely reliable when it comes to this, and unfortunately I've got more pressing matters in my life, so we'll see how it goes. :)**

**C**


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